Triple Shadows: Remix
by Ciel the Hedgehog
Summary: A revised edition of my first chapter story! Two hedgehogs appear, both claiming to know Shadow. How's Shadow going to take this, and what if one of the hedgie's ambitions is to kill him? Shadouge, slight Sonamy and Knuxaze.
1. The Arrival of Two Hedgehogs

**Hello folks, and welcome to the re-write of _Triple Shadows_. I decided I would re-write it, because when I read over it a few weeks ago, a lot of things didn't make sense. So, I decided that instead of just editing it, I'd start over instead. I was so happy to finish mylatest stories, I felt like starting this and _Crimson Stripes_ on the same day! W00T!This version will probably be longer, and hopefully better. Enjoy!**

* * *

Lightning streaked across the sky yet again, only partway through a thunderstorm. Near the area the storm was taking place, there was not much except forset, and one house. The house belonged to Vanilla Rabbit, who was out for the night to visit some old friends. In her abscence, her daughter was watching the house, along with a few friends.

"Truth or Dare?" asked Cream, Vanilla's daughter. She was in the living room with three other girls. On Cream's left was Amy Rose, one of her best friends who was taking a break from Sonic chasing. Beside her was Rouge, who had agreed to come for the Truth or Dare game. On the other side of Cream was Blaze, whom Cream's question was directed to.

"So, how is it I play again?" Blaze asked, still not used to such a friendly game.

"It's simple," Rouge replied, being an expert at the game. "When someone asks you Truth or Dare, you pick one of the two. If you pick truth, you have to answer a question truthfully, any question. If you pick dare, then you have to do whatever the person tells you to do."

"Okay then, truth," Blaze didn't exactly want to be dared yet, since she was still new.

"Do you like anyone Blaze?" Cream then asked. "Remember, you have to be truthful." The purple cat looked at her shoes, which were the same color as her blushing cheeks.

"Yes," Blaze replied, not saying who. "Okay then, Amy, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare me," Amy answered bravely. Blaze started to think about this, when a large _thunk_ was heard on the roof, soon followed by a _crash_ onto the ground. Cream let out a shriek.

"Don't worry, it was probably only a branch," Blaze assured Cream. "Amy, I dare you to see what it was."

"But...but it's so wet and muddy out there!" Amy retorted.

"A dare's a dare girl," Rouge said, "Get going."

"Trust me Rouge, you're next," Amy muttered, putting on a raincoat as she walked out of the house. It was starting to rain, and Amy sunk a little into the mud. Luckily, she was wearing her boots, but she still didn't like it. Ahead of her, she saw a figure. A hedgehog? Amy walked over to it, it was indeed a hedgehog. Without thinking much about it, amy picked up the soaking hedgie, and pulled it inside. it was unusually light for it's size, it looked about the same height as Sonic. Amy threw the door open, dragging her find inside. She laid it on the couch before inspecting it, along with the other girls.

It was quite an unusual looking hedgehog. It was black with yellow stripes, apparantly a male. His clothes were a coat like Blaze's, and boots that went a bit higher than his knees. Both of these were white, with exquisite blue designs all over it. His hands, which were ungloved, had slightly long claws. But that wasn't even close to the weirdest part. Instead of quills on his back, this hedgehog had wings, large wings that looked like a mix between Bat and Black Volt wings. Also, it almost seemed as if there was a barely noticable halo above his head, near the two earrings in his right ear.

"What is he?" Blaze asked. "Is he a hedgehog?"

"I think so," Rouge replied. The hedgehog in front of them groaned, his eyes opening a little to reveal bright golden irises. His mouth opened a little, revealing large, sharp fangs.

"Where am I?" the strange hedgehog asked, fully opening his eyes to see the four girls in front of him.

"You're at my house," Cream replied happily. "I'm Cream, this is Blaze, Rouge, and Amy. What's your name?" Seeing Cream smile, the hedgehog smiled back.

"My name's Ciel," He replied. "Project Ciel the Hedgehog."

* * *

Not to far off, in Central City, Two other hedgehogs were fighting Doctor Eggman. They were known as Sonic and Shadow, who had been sent to destroy Eggman's newest creation that had been destroying the city. There was nothing special about it, and he was quickly put into submission.

"Ha! Take that Eggy," Sonic exclaimed, doing a little victory dance.

"Nice job Sonic!" cheered Tails, who had been following in the X Tornado. Shadow just shrugged, he hadn't come for the robot. The black hedgehog had come for the Chaos Emerald the Doctor had so kindly retrieved a few days prior. Shadow needed that Chaos Emerald, for he could not use Chaos Control without it, much less any other ability.

"And you are mine," The dark hedgehog muttered, reaching down to pick up the dark blue emerald in front of him. Suddenly, it was whisked away right before his eyes. A soft chuckling was heard, as Shadow fixed his eyes upon the source. Another hedgehog was standing atop a nearby lightpost, emerald in hand. He was the same height as Sonic and Shadow, and was wearing jeans and a gray hooded jacket. Not much was visible of his face, which was mostly covered by the hood. Out of the back stuck out some quills, which were black and blue. From what was visible of the hedgehog's face, his fur was mostly black. The eyes could not be seen clearly, for the hedgehog was wearing dark sunglasses, and a lock of hair was over his left eye.

"So, you're the famous Sonic the Hedgehog, and his little kitsune friend," The hedgehog said to the two below. "I've heard a lot about your reputation with these emeralds. Well, I request that you do not interfere with my work, as I require these emeralds. As for you, Dr. Ivo Robotnik," The hedgehog's expression turned into one of disgust. "I expected more out of a descendent of Professor Gerald, but I guess it's no suprise. You humans can't live up to your own legacies."

"How dare you!" Eggman cried, insulted by this remark.

"Excuse me," Shadow interrupted, "But that Chaos Emerald is mine." The hooded hedgehog lowered his sunglasses for a better view, revealing deep blue eyes.

"Lex? Never thought I'd see you here," He said. "I guess you finally managed to get off the Ark after all this time. Sorry brother, but I must be off."

"Lex?" Shadow asked. "Sorry, you got the wrong hedgehog. I was created on the Ark, but the name's Shadow, not Lex." The hedgehog stared at him.

"No, you must be Lex," he replied. "The resemblance is uncanny. Dr. Robotnik, have you indeed done something to him?"

"Why would I?" The scientist asked. "I do robots, in case you haven't heard. Besides, Shadow is indeed my Grandfather's creation, and the only successful one recorded. How do you know of such things?" The black and blue hedgehog sneered at the scientist.

"Liar, I know better than that," he replied. "I know what was made on the Ark, for I lived there. My name is Project Gemini, and don't you forget it." In a flash, Gemini disappeared, taking the emerald with him.

"Damn," Shadow muttered. "He got away. And now, he says he knows me too? How much more to my past is there?"

"Hey, I found a lock of his fur," Tails exclaimed. "If I scan it in the lab, I can probably find out who he is. You guys coming?"

"Yes," Shadow replied. "If he's after the emeralds, I need to know what I'm up against."

"Count me in," Sonic declared. "Sounds like another adventure. Come on, let's go!"**

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The first chapter was pretty much the same as last time, but the later chapters are going to be different. Anyway, tell me what you think! Oh, and don't peek ahead by looking at the original, because it's not the same. I think I'll delete the original anyway. See ya' later!**


	2. Who's Lex?

**Hi again. For your information, I did delete the original of this story. That way, I won't try to copy stuff that happened in it. I remember the events pretty well anyway, but oh well. Oh yeah, I need to do...the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I, Ciel the Hedgehog, does not own Shadow, Sonic, or any related characters. I do, however, own Gemini and Ciel. Any resemblance between either of them and your own fancharacters is purely coincidental, for I thought up of these guys before I ever knew about this site. Actually, I created Gemini about a year ago. Yay, he's about a year old! To celebrte, how about you go read the chapter?**

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"Project?" Amy looked at Ciel with an odd look on her face. "You mean you're an expirament?"

"Well, I was," Ciel replied. "I guess you can say I still am. I was made by Professor Gerald Robotnik."

"I never read anything on a second hedgehog," Rouge muttered, "but he does look an awful lot like Shadow. Ciel, do you by any chance know Shadow the Hedgehog?" Ciel shook his head.

"Nope, never heard of him," Ciel answered. "I only have two brothers."

"Two?" Rouge asked, bewildered.

"Yep," Ciel said happily. "There's me, my brother Gemini, and Lex. We don't know where Lex is, though. Gemini was going after a Chaos Emerald to help find him, and he told me to keep watch. Then I got caught up in that storm, and I crashed on your house. Sorry about that."

"That's alright, I'm sure Mommy won't mind," Cream stated.

"I'm not sure I trust this guy," Blaze glared at Ciel, yellow eyes locking in a stare. "If you were created on the Ark, how come you still aren't there?" Ciel looked down nervously at his boots.

"Well, I kinda' got sick," Ciel mumbled. "I got really sick and then, I don't really remember what happened afterwards. Just a lot of gray. Next thing I know, I'm back with Gemini. And I got these wings too."

"You mean you didn't always have wings?" Blaze asked.

"Nope. I didn't have fangs either," Ciel said, pointing to his sharpened teeth. For a hedgehog, he could probably deliver one nasty bite.

"This is all really strange," Rouge muttered.

"Strange as it is, I think he's telling the truth," Amy declared. "It's too stormy outside to go anywhere, so I think he should stay here for the night."

"As long as he stays out of the bedroom, I'm fine," Blaze said, still glaring at the guy in front of here.

"No problem, I'll just stay on the couch," Ciel replied. "Don't worry about me." The older girls walked off to the bedroom to continue their Truth-or-Dare game, but Cream stayed behind.

"Mr. Ciel, is there anything I can get you?" Cream asked kindly. "A drink of water, or a blankie?"

"I'm good," Ciel replied. "I don't need to eat, drink, sleep, or any of that. Like I said, don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?" Cream asked. "Even Mr. Shadow needs to sometimes, and he's the Ultimate Lifeform!" Ciel's ears pricked up.

"Really?" Ciel asked. "He became the Ultimate Lifeform? That means something must have happened to Lex too." The winged hedgehog frowned, wondering what had happened to his brother.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cream apologized. "I was just making sure, that's all. Goodnight Mr. Ciel." With that, Cream walked out of the room.

"Goodnight Cream," Ciel muttered, going back to his own thoughts as he stared at the ceiling.

"Maybe Lex went to Earth," Ciel said to himself. "Maybe he went with...Maria."

* * *

Back in Emerald Town, Tails was having problems with his computer.

"I don't get it," Tails cried. "Why won't the DNA show up?"

"Maybe it's your computer's security system," Shadow said. "Maybe you have to change the security."

"I'll try that," Tails muttered as he typed on his keyboard.

"Dang, you're having more trouble with this than you did with Emerl," Sonic said. "Guess this guy is a project after all."

"Thing is, I don't remember him," Shadow noted. "I was the only hedgehog on the Ark. Then this guy comes, and says he knows me. It's like Black Doom again, but without the aliens."

"And without you shooting everything that moves," Sonic added, resulting in a glare from his black counterpart.

"Password Required," the computer beeped.

"Arrgh, dangit!" Tails yelled, slamming a fist down on the table. "Password for some DNA? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Woah Tails, cool your jets," Sonic said. "Hey Shadow, maybe if you chop the computer, you can bypass the security thingy. It worked with Eggman's stuff."

"First of all, that was a one-time only thing," Shadow replied. "Last time I did that, I broke Vector's labtop. Secondly, that was with Eggman, and this hedgehog and this computer both have nothing to do with him. And finally...no."

"Just a suggestion," The blue hedgehog muttered. "It's better than the alternative."

"And what would that be?" Tails asked.

"You don't want to know," Sonic replied, "Unless you happen to have some labrats and a chilidog avaliable." Thankfully, the phone started ringing before Sonic could go on with his hair-brained scheme.

"I'll get it," Shadow said, picking up the phone.

"Yo, Sonic?" Knuckles was asking on the other side.

"This is Shadow," The dark hedgehog growled, not in the best of moods.

"Oh, hi Shadow. Look, I got a message from Tikal that you might want to see. Meet me here at Angel Island, alright? Bring Sonic and Tails with you too."

"Alright then, I'll be there," Shadow replied. Finally, maybe something that would give him answers.**

* * *

Next time, Knuckles has an encounter with Gemini. What's Knuckles going to do, especially when Gemini reveals his powers? You'll just have to wait and see!**


	3. Vengence, not Evil

**Sorry the chapter's a little late today. I was busy today. Anyway, this chapter is going to be a lot longer than the original version, but also has different stuff (where would we be without the word stuff?). Also, it's more Gemini-centric, this chapter, which reveals some very...interesting information. I hope you find it to your liking! Oh, and if the lines seem kinda' funny, the document editor wouldn't let me add the lines, so I had to imporvise. Yoi.**

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Angel Island, the famous floating island in the sky that was once the base of echidna civilization. Usually, the only inhabitants of the island were a variety of small animals, and the lone guardian Knuckles. But today, a sudden wind coarsed through the air as a black streak ran through the island's forests. Running at a speed only beatable by the likes of Sonic and Shadow was Gemini, who was tracking another Chaos Emerald. The black and blue furry slowed his pace a little, taking in the scenery around him. The flora of Angel Island was quite beautiful, but one thing still plauged the project's mind.

"Lex..." Gemini muttered, lowering his sunglasses a little. Lex had been on the Ark for as long as he had, maybe even longer.They were twins after all, along with Ciel. But his red-striped brother seemed...different. Darker, as if he had forgotten how he was on the Ark. Gemini sighed, for he really missed his old home. He wished he was still up there, but he couldn't. Not after the way Professor Gerald had kicked him out like that. The memory of the whole event was only too clear in his mind.

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_Flashback_

Blurred images of figures stood before him. Who were they? A black hedgehog with sky blue streaks slowly stood up as his vision came into focus. He was trapped, barred from escape by some barrier. It was like strong glass. The hedgehog pounded on it with his fist, wanting to get out. Yes, this was Gemini about fifty-two years ago on the Ark.

His vision cleared, allowing him to see the figures in front of him. An old man with a white mustache was speaking to him, but he couldn't make out the words. It was Professor Gerald, his creator. In a sense, his father, but Gemini never regarded him as such. Beside him was a young girl with blonde hair, and the bluest of blue eyes, filled with tears. Maria, she seemed so sad. One of her friends was going away, and she didn't fully know why.

On the other side of Gerald were two hedgehogs. One of them had bright red fur with black stripes, a multitude of scars adorning him. His name was Baron, Gemini's mentor. Baron was more like a father than Gerald, considering the fact that he supplied most of the hedgehog DNA for the project, though not willingly. Baron seemed disappointed in Gemini, but the boy's head was a blur. Why was that? A wary hand felt at his shoulder, a small round scar was felt. They must have drugged him to render him unconcious before containing him in this...whatever it was.

"As you can see Gemini, these powers of yours are too powerful and unpredictable to afford keeping you on the Ark. I'm afraid we're going to have to send you away." The words came from Gerald's mouth straight to Gemini's ears, and it struck like a blow to his heart. He was being sent away? For what, what did he do wrong?

"He's still a boy," Baron retorted. "I can make sure he masters it, and then he won't be a threat at all! Trust me on this, Gerald. I've managed to contain him this long."

"You shall do no such thing!" Gerald cried, making Baron and Maria flinch. "There is no way that anything dark can be tamed. I cannot risk the safety of the people on Ark, and on Earth. Surely, you must understand?" The red hedgehog nodded, and Gemini remembered why he was here. He had been found out, and his powers were unwanted. They were dark powers. Humans were afraid of the dark, for they didn't understand it. As Gemini thought this, his eyes rested on the final hedgehog. Black with red streaks, staring at Gemini with emotionless eyes. His brother Lex, he should be the one being sent away. Wasn't he just as dangerous?

"After all," Gemini muttered, "didn't he try to kill me?" His mind was blurry, but he still remembered it. Lex had tried to kill him, unleashed a power that was even more dangerous than his own. The power of chaos.

"Goodbye, Gemini," The dark hedgehog felt himself falling, the Ark suddenly rushing out of view. It finally hit him, he was in a transport capsule. They had taken no chances, and now they had done it. Project Gemini was gone.

_End Flashback_

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"Hey, you!' Gemini snapped out of his memory to see an echidna in front of him, his fur blood red with a white crescent on his chest. In his spiked hands was a Chaos Emerald, bright green. How fortunate, his target had come to him.

"And you may be?" Gemini asked, readjusting his shades to cover his eyes from the sunlight that hurt his eyes.

"I'm Knuckles, the Guardian of this island," the echidna replied. "What business do you have here?"

"You are holding it," Gemini replied calmly, even though he was just itching to get it over with. Knuckle's purple eyes fell upon his emerald.

"I'm sorry, but this emerald is rightfully mine," Knuckles explained. "I found it fair and square. If you want it so bad, then you'll have to fight me for it."

"Why waste the time?" Gemini asked, though in truth it was fighting skills he lacked. "How about you hand over the emerald, unless you'd prefer to have the next few hours be a living hell."

"And how would that work?" The Guardian let out a laugh. "Unless you're the Grim Reaper or something, I don't think I'm going to die today buddy."

"So that's a no?" The hooded hedgehog took a step forward, baring his teeth. "Wrong answer there, echidna. I'm afraid that I'll have to take that emerald by force then."

"Damn, you sound a lot like Shadow," Knuckles said. Gemini let out a growl. Shadow, the Hedgehog that looked so much like Lex. Gemini was sure that he was Lex, but he sure didn't seem to remember him. Did he forget or something? Dismissing the notion, Gemini glared at the echidna before him.

"One question Knuckles. Do you believe in magic?" he asked. Knuckles stared quizzitively as the hedgehog went quiet. He seemed to be mumbling something, but he couldn't make out what. Maybe it had something to do with his insane question? Suddenly, Knuckles was engulfed in pain as black and violet flames leaped from the ground, devouring the Guardian. Gemini laughed at the screams, obviously hell was not the echidna's idea of fun.

"Yes Guardian, there is indeed magic," Gemini exclaimed, "and Dark Magic is my trade. Having fun in there?" He let the flames die, using Knuckle's weakness as an oppurtunity to snatch the emerald. He soon held it in his hand, the bright green reflecting the forest.

"Ha, you're as evil as Shadow was," Knuckles muttered, even though he was lying on the ground in exhastion. "I've had worse from his Chaos Blasts. So, you're another lame bad guy, eh?"

"I am not evil!" Gemini yelled, glaring at the pile of red fur before him. "Just because I use Black Magic doesn't mean I use it for evil. Vengeance and Evil are two seperate things, you know. But a word to the wise, do not ever compare me to Shadow."

"Oh, you're mad that he's stronger than you?" Knuckles had pushed Gemini to his limit.

"No, you bastard!" Gemini quickly chanted another spell, using it to encase the Guardian in a black casing. Sure, it never lasted long, but it was effective for a retreat. Before he left, Gemini brought up another Dark Flame, until a sudden flash-fire hit his left arm.

"Leave the fire to an expert, hedgehog," Gemini turned his attention towards a purple cat with golden eyes, who was delicately holding a fireball in her hand. The dark project heard the sounds of others behind her. He could fight them, but why use magic needlessly? The best option right now was to retreat with his prize. Gemini quickly turned tail and ran, wondering if it was just a trick of his mind when he heard someone call his name.

"Oh well," he thought. "Two down, five to go."

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**Now I suppose I've made at least half of you wonder what the heck happened between Shadow and Gemini. All will be explained...later! Until then, see you Tuesday!**


	4. Threat?

**Oops, I accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter earlier. I'm really sorry for the mistake, I got confusticated with my chappie titles. So anyway, the real chapter 4. Enjoy.**

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"Knuckles, are you all right?" The Guardian opened his eyes to see Blaze standing over him, a look of concern on her face.

"Fine," he grunted, but in fact his body hurt like heck. He wondered what the girls were doing here, until he remembered that he had called them over too.

"Some hedgehog was attacking you," Blaze explained. "I managed to scare him off, but you were imprisoned in something. It took a few hours for it to wear off.

"It wasn't just any hedgehog," Knuckles and Blaze turned their attention to Ciel, who had come with the girls. "That was my brother, Gemini."

"I figured that," Knuckles said. "And you're Ciel, right?"

"How do you know my name?" Ciel asked, taken aback.

"The Master Emerald," Knuckles replied. "Now, has anyone seen-"

"Sonic!" All heads turned as a blue hedgehog was seen, and Amy ran up and glomped him. Behind the blue hedgie were Tails and Shadow. Upon seeing the latter, Ciel's ears pricked up.

"Lex!" he cried happily, embracing his "brother" in a hug. Shadow stared at him oddly.

"I...think you have the wrong hedgehog," Shadow muttered.

"No I don't!" Ciel replied. "You're Lex, I can tell. You look exactly like him. Wait 'til I tell Gemini I found you!"

"Wait, you know that hedgehog?" Shadow asked, as Ciel let him go.

"Of course I do," Ciel answered. "He's our brother, remember Lex?"

"The name is Shadow, not Lex!" Shadow yelled, causing everyone to stare at him. Ciel's eyes widened.

"Lex is...Shadow?" Ciel said, looking confused. "So, you ended up as the Ultimate Lifeform?" The black hedgehog nodded.

"Now, I must ask," Shadow began, "how do you know me?" The winged hedgehog's ears drooped, looking at his boots sadly.

"Don't you remember Lex, I mean Shadow?" Ciel asked. "Gemini and I are your brothers. The Proffessor created us all on the Ark, remember?"

"I remember everything except you two," Shadow explined. "Maybe you're head was messed with kid, but I am the only hedgehog Gerald created. Me. Maybe you're one of the Shadow Clones Eggman created, because there's no other explanation I can think of. I was the only one." Ciel was silent at this, looking almost about to cry.

"...Do you remember Maria?" Shadow's eyes widened at the question. Everyone looked confused except for Rouge, who was the only one who knew about Maria from Gerald's computer diary.

"How do you know Maria?" Shadow asked through gritted teeth, grabbing the yellow-striped hedgehog by the collar of his shirt. "What do you know of my past that I don't already know?"

"Alright, cool it you two!" Rouge yelled, seperating the two hedgehogs. "There's no reason to be making accusations or fighting. We can sort this out later."

"I agree," Knuckles said. "Look, I called you all here because I have a message from Tikal and Chaos.You should see it first, and then we can figure out what all's going on. No offense Shadow, but I think that Ciel might be right. I just got attacked by this 'Gemini' fellow a few hours ago."

"He must have had a reason," Ciel muttered, though no one replied. Soon, they were all headed up to the emerald shrine, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

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"Master Emerald, begin message." Knuckles ordered. The gang was now at the Master Emerald alter, the emerald now beginning to glow with a green light. All eyes were on it, and unknown to the others, Gemini was also watching from a distance. The Master Emerald's glow softened, and the image or a light orange echidna and the watery god of the chao appeared onscreen.

"Greetings to all. I assume by the fact that you are viewing this to mean that Knuckles has successfully gathered you all here. Chaos here has supplied me with a warning to give to you." Tikal cleared her throat, while everyone kept their ears open to what was to be said next.

"There will be an attack. Dark energy, magic that has not been seen for many years. He is known as Gemini. He doesn't wish to use them for evil, but his intentions shall be twisted away from what he means to do. There is another, called Ciel. No matter what side he prefers, he shall end up following his brother, and will become a threat to all of you. Be on your guard, especially you, Shadow. Both of these two will end up against you for reasons you do not remember. Only be dealing with these two 'projects' can you get the rest of your past in place. Play your cards right, and you may be able to get them back to your side." The echidna girl sighed, looking at her watery companion. "Chaos, there is something else, isn't there?" The watery beast stared at her, Tikal's eyes widening. "What? What do you mean, I-" The image faded, and the glow dimmed until there was none at all.

"It seems that Chaos terminated the message at that point," Knuckles said, "So that's it. Now, what I'm wondering..." Knuckles faced Ciel, who looked confused.

"Me? A threat?" Ciel asked. "I wouldn't hurt you guys."

"And how do we know that?" Shadow asked. "Sorry, but I don't exactly trust you after hearing that message." Ciel shook his head.

"I wouldn't hurt you guys, promise! You guys are all friends of my brother, and the girls were all really helpful when I got lost. I wouldn't hurt you guys ever!"

"It doesn't matter whether you would willingly hurt us or not," Knuckles retorted, "Didn't you hear what she said? Gemini would end up turning you against us! So, I'd keep quiet if I were you, fangface." Ciel looked sadly at away.

"Mr. Knuckles, Mr. Shadow, look what you did!" Cream cried. "You hurt his feelings. That's not a very nice thing to do, even if he is an enemy."

"No I'm not," Ciel said. "Well, if you guys hate me that much, I guess I'll leave." Ciel slowly started to walk away, but then he stopped to look at Shadow. "I think it maybe I was mistaken. Lex was never that mean. Maria didn't teach us that way." A shrill whistle sounded through the air, as a black blur sped by.

"Okay you freaks, Ciel's coming with me," Gemini said. "And I wouldn't listen to the little echidna girl. No one, and I mean no one, is going to change my mind but me. That's because I should be the true Ultimate Lifeform. Come on, Ciel."

"Okay then," Ciel said, starting to flap his wings. "Bye Cream! Bye everybody!" With that, the two hedgehogs ran off, until all that could be seen was a speck on the horizon. Shadow just watched, his mind still filled with that parting sentance.

_"Maria didn't teach us that way."_ Did that mean...were the two 'projects' what they said they were?

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**Poor Shadow. I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Next chapter, I'm kinda' stuck, so I need your help! The gang's going after a Chaos Emerald, but I don't want to make it underwater like last time. So, loyal reviewers (and other reviewers,) what kind of area do you think the emerald should be in? The winner will have the area they picked in the story! So, tell me what you think, and I'll see you all Thursday!**


	5. Jesire Maze of Bone and Stone

**Okay, as I said before, I'm really sorry about the chapter mixup. It won't happen with this story again, I promise. Okay? Good. Now, for the winner of the area contest, the winner was Stone Maze Area by BlueMageQuartet. Congrats, and I hope you all enjoy the chappie.**

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A few hours after the incident at the Master Emerald, the gang was trying to decide what to do now. Shadow had been unusually silent the whole time. Finally, Rouge walked over to him.

"Hey Shadow, what's up?" Rouge asked. Shadow remained silent, staring off into space. "Come on Shaddie, I know something's up." The black hedgehog let out a sigh.

"Those hedgehogs..." Shadow's voice trailed off a bit. "Do you think they really know me?"

"I have no clue Shadow," Rouge replied truthfully, "but I think I know where we might find out. As soon as I can, I'm headed to the GUN base to see what I can find out."

"I'm coming too," Shadow declared. "I must find out about those two at all costs." Rouge chuckled a little.

"I thought you might say that," Rouge replied. "If you're coming, it'd be best if we had a Chaos Emerald first. That way, if we're discovered, we can just warp out. Sound good?"

"It would if I had an emerald," Shadow muttered.

"I can help there," The two looked at Knuckles, who had just spoke. "Blaze found two other Chaos Emeralds a while ago."

"Well then, where are they?" Shadow asked.

"I had a feeling that someone was after them," Blaze said. "I can't guard two emeralds and all the Sol Emeralds at the same time, so I hid the Chaos Emeralds at Jesire Ruins. Ever heard of them?" Shadow shook his head.

"I've been there once," Sonic quipped. "It's a ways from Mystic Ruins. It's like a really big maze. Even I almost got lost in there. False passages, dead ends, you name it. Seems like a real hard place to find one, not to mention two emeralds."

"It was built as a sort of prison, where the criminals would wander endlessly to their deaths," Knuckles added. "My ancestors sure had a way with architecture uses."

"I can sense the Chaos Emeralds when we're there, so they shouldn't be too hard to find," Shadow said. "Alright then, let's go."

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Whoever had built the Jesire Prison Maze had done their job well. Not only was it made out of only the most durable of stone, and adorned with elaborate runes and designs, but it was also confusing. There were only two exits, both at opposite ends of the giant maze. Once one door closed, an ancient mechanism built in the maze's design closed the one passage to the other end. The trapped person could never get out. In order to make sure this didn't happen to them, the gang had decided to stick together. Once the Chaos Emeralds were found, Shadow and Sonic would warp everyone out. Blaze went first, illuminating the dark passages with a small fireball. Shadow and Knuckles were behind her, followed by Rouge, Tails and Cream, Amy, and Sonic was forced to take up the rear "just in case."

"Sense any emeralds yet?" Sonic asked after about ten minutes of walking.

"If you can't sense them yet, they aren't here," Shadow replied.

"It's a while off to the emeralds," Blaze added. "I made sure that anyone after them would have to put up with way more than a ten minute's walk." Sonic sighed in irritation, but kept going.

Soon, the gang had been in there for almost an hour. Blaze said that she hadn't been in there as long, but then again, she had been running. Sonic had whined a bit on how it would be better if they just ran for it, but that would mean leaving the others behind. If anyone else was in there for the emerald, they would need backup to fend them off.

"Hey look, there's a clearing up ahead," Tails cried. Everyone looked ahead, for there was in fact a break in the maze. Instead, there was a large circular area, about the size of a basketball court. The ceiling was higher than the rest of the maze, and it was dome shaped. All along the walls and the ceilings were more intricate runes and pictures, carved by ancient hands centuries before.

"The Inner Sanctum," Knuckles muttered. "I heard of this place too. It's the middle of the maze, where quite a few people ended up. Some say that the gathered criminals formed their own cult, forming ways to get out and plotting revenge on their captors. Some say that they had all they needed to escape, but they died before they could get out." Knuckles little history lesson was probably true, for Blaze's light revealed skeletons scattered all across the floor.

"This is really scary," Cream whimpered. "Can we get out soon?" Shadow's ears pricked up.

"Shh, listen," Shadow whispered. "Voices. Blaze, extinguish your light." Without asking why, Blaze did so, and everyone fell silent. Voices indeed could be heard, headed toward the Inner Sanctum. A small purple light entered, followed by Ciel and Gemini.

"Would you look at this?" Gemini asked. "All these poor saps, dieing for mostly no real bad reason. I bet you that at least half of these guys were sent here for having some defect or freak ability. You know how scared most of society is of freaks."

"Gemini, this place is giving me the creeps," Ciel whimpered. "All these dead people here isn't good. Can we go now?"

"No, we still haven't found that other Chaos Emerald," Gemini said, holding up his own. "Let's see...we have one I got last week, the one I got from Sonic, one from that blasted Guardian, and one from this maze. Grab the other one, which makes five, and Dr. Robotnik has a sixth. I believe that GUN has the seventh locked up somewhere, so we'll go for that one last." For a while, no one spoke. Then, as the two black hedgehogs began to make their way out of the Sanctum, Amy accidentally sneezed from all the dust collected in the cave. All heads whipped around to face the pink hedgehog, as Gemini's light brightened to illuminate all of the gang's whereabouts.

"You again!" Gemini cried. "After the Chaos Emeralds, eh? Well, I'm afraid they're rightfully mine. None of you are getting these emeralds, especially not you, _Shadow_." He spat that last word out as if it were poisonous. Without thinking, Shadow rushed forward, tackling Gemini.

"Say that again?" Shadow asked. "Now who's going to get the emeralds?"

"Not you, damn fool," His blue-streaked counterpart said, throwing the emerald in his hand off to Ciel. "Ciel, get out with the emerald, and I'll meet up with you later." Ciel nodded, running off.

"Not if I have a say about it," Rouge called out. "You can't keep any gem from the World's Greatest Theif!" Rouge flew off after the winged hedgie, with Amy, Blaze, and Cream following after them.

"Don't worry Sonic, we'll get that emerald back for you," Amy said to Sonic before leaving. "Just leave it to us girls!'

"All right Amy, we trust ya'" Sonic agreed, as he, Knuckles, and Tails went to assist Shadow in taking the gems from Gemini. The latter, managing to wrench himself from Shadow's grasp, kicked the said hedgehog in the jaw before running to the other side of the room.

"I'd love to play with you," Gemini said to the boys, "but four-against-one's not fair. Let me even up the odds a little." The dark hedgehog pulled a dagger out of a pocket in his jacket, bringing the blade across his palm. Putting his now-bleeding hand on top of a pile of bones, he began to mutter something.

"What's he doing?" Sonic asked. "Weakening himself before the fight?"

"I don't think so Sonic," Shadow replied. "I don't know what it is, but I feel something...dark. Some unnatural energy that's not supposed to be here."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Gemini mumbled. "I'd say that they've been here longer than we all have."

"He's talking about the skeletons," Tails noted. "What's he doing?" As he asked this, all the bones in the Inner Sanctum turned a dark violet color as the hedgehog magician continued to chant. Almost without meaning to, everyone except Shadow backed away. Shadow just stood there, deciding not to show any signs of fear. He just kept his eyes on the bones as the words Gemini was saying suddenly stopped. He watched as his "brother's" blue eyes turned blacker than his fur for a brief minute, his ears pricking up as if recieving a message. Finally, Gemini lifted his head as his eyes returned to normal, a wicked smile across his face.

"I don't like the looks of this," Sonic muttered, as the pressence of dark magic was obvious to all in the room.

"It seems as if today's my lucky day," Gemini called out. "I found someone to join me. Rise, Bone Titan!" Suddenly, all the bones in the room began to glow bright violet. The room went pitch black for a brief second. The group of four watched as the darkness lifted, revealing a large, unidentifiable creature made of bone where the scattered skeletons once lay. It was gigantic, almost reaching the highest part of the ceiling. It was made only of bone, but seemed bounded together by something black. It also had some unusally sharp claws, and it's limbs were all probably quite capable of smashing some unfortunate guy to oblivion.

"Not so bad, if I do say so myself," Gemini complimented himself, lowering his sunglasses for a better look at his creation. His attention quickly turned to the others, who were suprised.

"I didn't know you could do that with magic," Shadow muttered, secretly impressed. Some of the others weren't so secretive with their view. Sonic just whistled under his breath, while Tails looked as if he had just watched an R-rated horror movie (which in fact might have been only a bit scarier). Knuckles also looked freaked.

"What the hell is that thing?" The echidna yelled in shock.

"Oh, just a little someone to help even up the odds," The blue-striped hedgehog let out a laugh. "So, ready to play now?"

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**Well, this chapter was fun to write (maybe that's why it's so long). Yes, part of Gemini's Dark Magic ability does involve summons, but only if given a resonable sacrifice. In this case, loads of skeletons and a drop of blood. Be here next chapter to see how the heck the guys deal with this little beastie, and how the girls are holding up with their search for Ciel. Oh, and next chapter might be a little late. I'm busy most of Saturday, so this might be out Sunday instead. Anyway, until then, see ya'!**


	6. Shadow Makes a Mistake

**Hey, I'm alive! Yay! Sorry that I didn't update sooner, I was busy (and had a teeny bet of writer's block). But I'm back now, for all your reading enjoyment! Yay, again! Anyway, here's chapter...6! (Oh, and the new chappie for _Crimson Stripes_ will be a little late, since the site won't let me load it...)**

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"Well, isn't this our lucky day?" Sonic asked sarcastically. The Bone Titan let out a roar, letting loose a few rocks from their place on the cieling with it's volume.

"You think I'm scared of that?" Shadow mocked, as he walked toward the advirsaries before him. "It'll take more than a pile of bones to stop me!"

"Than maybe you'd do better to fight me instead," Gemini replied. "If you're so strong, I shouldn't be a problem, right?" Shadow's reply was a charge forward, landing a punch on his counterpart's chest. Another roar came from the Bone Titan. Shadow briefly turned his head so see Sonic and the others getting ready to fight it. Unfortunately, this gave Gemini a chance to attack back, a kick right to Shadow's face.

"Not so strong without your Chaos Emeralds, are you Shadow?" The blue-striped hedgehog taunted.

"Oh, you'll see how strong I am with them in a minute!" Knocking Gemini to the ground, Shadow grabbed away one of the Chaos Emeralds from him, which was glowing a bright green. Concentrating his power into it, his fur began to glow a bright red. Sonic, who was currently trying to damage the creature before him, cast Shadow a glance.

"Uh oh," he muttered, turning to his comrades. "Duck and cover guys, Shad's gonna' blow!" All of them knowing the extent of Shadow's abilities tried to get to safety as quickly as they could, but to no avail.

"Chaos...BLAST!" Shadow yelled, a gigantic explosion eminating from him. In a matter of seconds, the room was a complete wreck. Sonic and the boys were all cut and bruised by the debris that had managed to hit them. Gemini had been blown back quite a ways, since he had been close to the heart of the attack. The Bone Titan still stood, though, now glowing a bright violet.

"You fool," Gemini said, "Look what you've done now! Exposing a monster like that to Chaos Energy like that causes the thing to go beserk! Out of control! We'll be lucky if that thing manages to leave even part of this place intact."

"And who decided to summon it in the first place?" Shadow retorted, his fur still shining a brilliant crimson. "Why don't you just use your magic to control him again?"

"You have no understanding of magic, do you?" The other hedgehog scoffed. "Either way, by the way it's looking at you, I might as well take this time to go after that other Chaos Emerald. Goodbye, loser," As Gemini began to run off, Shadow turned his eyes towards the Bone Titan. If it had eyes, they would be glaring straight at him. Without a moment's hesitation, the thing began to charge for him.

"No problem," Shadow muttered. "Now, where would be the best place to hit this thing from?" Running out of the way of the monster's path, he eyed it. His eyes landed on a mass of violet in between the mass of bones in it's head. "Bingo." Quickly, Shadow made his way to the monster, and jumped. He landed on it's kneecap, and preceded to climb the bones like a ladder to the top.

"Idiot," Gemini murmmured as he ran off. As he did, something grabbed at the back of his jacket. He turned to see Knuckles.

"Oh no you don't," the echidna said. "You brought this thing here, you help get rid of it."

"You are crazy," Gemini said. "If there's any way to rid of it, you have to take it out at that mass of energy in it's head, which serves as a sort of 'brain' to follow it's master's commands. Of course, since it's a re-animated object that absorbed Chaos Energy, it causes the brain to malfunction, so to speak, and it goes into a frenzy."

"So, all we have to do is destroy that big purple thing up there, and it's dead?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes, but there is a large amount of Dark Energy radiating from that section. Most people would most likely be killed by such exposure."

"Well, Shadow sure isn't," Knuckles replied, pointing at the once-again black hedgehog. "See, look at him climb that thing! He should be up to the top soon." In fact, Shadow was indeed close to the top, climbing up the Bone Titan's spine to get to the head. It jerked this way and that as the monster tried to his it's current target, which was Sonic and Tails.

"Well, I made it to the neck," Shadow thought to himself. "Sonic and Tails just need to distract it a little longer, and then this whole thing will be done with." He climbed a bit more onto the skull, seeing the "brain" right below him.

"Now, how to destroy this," he muttered. He still had his Chaos Emerald in his hand, so he could probably zap it with a Chaos Spear. But would that get absorbed too, like his Chaos Blast? Shadow was confused, his mind was getting cloudy. He almost lost balance as the Titan reared it's head, but he managed to grab hold onto one of the horns that portruded from it's head. Then suddenly, he was thrown up into the air. Looking down, he saw the Bone Titan below, which had managed to flip him up skywards with the sudden movement of it's skull. It was looking up at him expectantly, and then slowly opened it's mouth to catch it's hedgehog prey. Shadow began to fall, his mind still foggy.

"Shadow!" Shadow heard his name, but he couldn't make out who it was. The last thing he saw were rows of teeth in front of him, ready to rip him to shreds. Then, there was total darkness.

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While the boys were off fighting the Bone Titan, the girls had been chasing Ciel throughout the prison. Rouge was ahead of all of them, flying as fast as she could.

"Get back here if you know what's good for you," Rouge called out. "No one keeps an emerald away from me!"

"Well then, I guess I'm the first," Ciel decided, flying a bit faster than the bat. Growling to herself, Rouge suddenly got an idea. Pulling out her pick-nails, she aimed right at the hedgehog's head. With a quick throw, the pick-nails made contact, causing the hedgehog to fall to the ground.

"Score one for Rouge the Bat," she said, walking over to her prize. She picked up her pick-nails from where they landed on the ground before looking at Ciel. Oddly, there wasn't a big bleeding cut on his head like Rouge thought there would be. In fact, there was nothing wrong with it at all. Rouge wondered how the heck he had managed miss that, she heard Blaze, Amy, and Cream come up behind her.

"Hey, you managed to do it!" Amy cheered. Blaze gave a nod in agreement, while Cream just looked at the hedgie on the ground.

"Is he okay?" The rabbit asked, looking worried. "You didn't hurt him too bad, did you Ms. Rouge?"

"I don't know," replied the Master Theif. "I hit him in the head with my pick-nails, but he doesn't look like he got hurt. Either way, the emerald's mine now."

"No it isn't," Ciel lifted his head from the ground, still holding the Chaos Emerald. "I still have it, don't I?"

"You're still concious?" Rouge asked, bewildered. "I can't believe it, those pick-nails I threw are sharp."

"Well, I am," Ciel said, getting to his feet. "And I still have the emerald. I'm sorry, but you can't have it."

"Why can't we?" Amy asked. "We need it more than you do."

"You can't because Gemini says so," replied the winged hedgehog. "I owe a lot to him, and he's my brother. What he says goes." While the other girls were quiet, Cream walked up to him.

"Please, Mister Ciel," Cream asked. "We really need that Chaos Emerald. Can we please have the emerald? Pretty please?" The little rabbit turned on her six year-old charm, looking like the sweetest, most innocent thing there was. Ciel sighed.

"If you really need it that bad, I guess it's okay," He said, giving her the emerald. "I'll just have to grab Gemini the other one." Rouge glared at the young bunny, who had been able to do what she couldn't, when she heard a noise off in the distance. It sounded like a loud roar, like the sound of thousands of people screaming at once. The others seemed to hear it to.

"What is that?" Blaze asked.

"It sounds like one of Gemini's weird summons," Ciel moaned. "Those things are so evil...but I think he might have summoned it to take care of the boys."

"Well, he won't be getting his way then," Rouge said. "You guys go after the other emerald. I'm going to go help out the boys, okay?"

"Fine then," Blaze agreed, already running off down a corridor.

"Good Luck Rouge," Amy and Cream both said before following her.

"I'll help you too," Ciel said to the bat. "Is that okay? I don't want Gemini to hurt the boys too bad, even if they are mean."

"Fine by me," Rouge agreed, flying off. "I just hope I'm not too late."

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**Dang, this part is going on way longer than I first thought. Oh well, cliffy!** **Will Rouge make it? Is Shadow going to die? WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? Find out...next time! Haha! See ya' then.**


	7. End of the Bone Titan

**Arggh...I had a case of writer's block for this. That's why it's late, so sorry. I have to go register for High School next week. Yay. When I start school, I might not be able to update as much. I don't know. On the plus side, I'm getting a new computer soon, so then I'll be able to edit stuff better. Anyway, here's Chapter 7.**

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The screams grew louder and louder as Rouge and Ciel got closer to the Inner Sanctum. Rouge was wondering what in the world could make such a weird noise. It sounded like thousands of people screaming in agony, not a pretty noise. Rouge's sensitive ears were beginning to hurt.

"So Ciel," Rouge said, turning to the hedgehog flying beside her, "You said your brother summoned this thing?"

"Uh huh," Ciel replied. "It takes a lot of energy to summon something, much less keep it going. Gemini has a lot of energy, but he can only keep something like this going for so long." A thought came into Rouge's head.

"So, if he was hurt enough, whatever he summoned would go away, right?"

"I suppose," Ciel agreed. "That's what he said."

"Okay then, I'll just-" Rouge stopped in mid-sentance, as she entered the Inner Sanctum. Inside was the Bone Titan, the nastiest looking thing Rouge had ever seen. It was huge, almost reaching the ceiling. Millions of bones were gathered to make the skeleton of who-knows-what, for the form was unidentifiable. The whole form was kept together by a glowing purple energy. The part that scared Rouge the most, though, was what the creature was doing. It's head was aimed at the ceiling, mouth wide open, and a certain black hedgehog was just about to be chomped.

"Shadow!" Rouge cried, flying up as fast as she could. With a speed she didn't know she had, she flew up and grabbed the unconcious hedgie by the leg, and quickly flew him away right when the Bone Titan crunched together his teeth,.

"That was close," Rouge muttered, looking down at Shadow. He was passed out, but he was alive. "Of course he's alive," Rouge thought, "he's the Ultimate Lifeform, right?" Rouge landed on the ground to set Shadow down, turning to the others.

"Sonic, Tails, Knux," she called to them, "I found out how you can beat this thing!"

"That's what Shadow tried to do, and he almost got chomped," Knuckles retorted.

"No, you don't even need to touch him," The white bat replied. "You just need to attack Gemini until he doesn't have enough energy to keep up the summon."

"Now that, I could do," A sly grin came over Knuckles face, looking over at the hooded hedgehog. Gemini, who seemed to have heard this, was slowly backing away.

"Get him!" Sonic cried, speedily tackling the blue-striped hedgehog. Tails and Knuckles soon joined the fray also. Rouge hung back, keeping an eye on Shadow. Up above, pieces of the Bone Titan began to crumble.

"Hey, it's working," Tails pointed out. And indeed, the Bone Titan was falling apart.

"Oh, you won't stop this that easily," Gemini growled. "The Bone Titan knows it's falling apart, so it's going to take this place down with it as a final act."

"What?" Everyone else cried in unison, stopping what they were doing.

"Why, of course," Gemini replied, shakily getting up, "and I'm sorry to say that I won't be around to witness it. Come on Ciel, we're off."

"Roger that," Ciel said, grabbing his brother before taking off. "Sorry guys, you're on your own for this one. Good Luck!" The two flew off, leaving the rest of the gang with the Bone Titan.

"Well, isn't that nice of him?" Sonic asked sarcastically. "Seriously, who does that guy think he is?"

"We have bigger problems on our hands," Everyone turned to see that Shadow had re-awakened.

"You okay Shadow?" Rouge asked. The Ultimate Lifeform nodded, getting to his feet.

"A little shaky at best, but I'll make it," he replied. "Come on, we should be getting out too."

"I agree," Knuckles said, "I don't know what that Bone Titan's doing, but I don't like it one bit." As it was falling apart, the Bone Titan raised what was left of it's crumbling head toward the ceiling. Letting out a roar, the energy around him started to glow brighter. A sphere of energy began forming at the mouth, soon growing to the size of a large bomb. The Dark Energy began to pulse like a blood vessel, faster and faster as the sphere increased in size a little. With a tremendous roar, it launched into the ceiling, the impact causing the roof to crumble.

"Hand me a Chaos Emerald," Shadow ordered. Rouge handed him the Chaos Emerald he had earlier.

"Shadow, are you sure you can transport us all?" Sonic asked. "You seem pretty weak. Maybe I should instead."

"I can do it," Shadow retorted, holding the emerald in front of him. "Gather around me, everyone." The others did without hesitation, now that large rocks were starting to fall from the ceiling.

"Everyone ready?" Rouge asked. Everyone nodded.

"Good," Shadow replied. "Chaos Control!" The group of five disappeared in a green light, only moments before a particularly large hunk of the ceiling hit the spot they had been standing at. Left behind, the Bone Titan let itself be crushed under the boulders, it's body once again becoming nothing but bones. The Dark Energy disappeared into the floor below, and the Bone Titan was no more.

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"Did we make it?" Tails asked once Chaos Control had ended.

"I believe so," Sonic replied, seeing as they had been teleported a few miles from the ruins.. "Hey Shads, you okay?"

"I'm okay," Shadow stated, althought he was having trouble staying on his feet. The exposure of Dark Energy from the Bone Titan had left him pretty weak. The black blur's legs collapsed from under him, but Rouge managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Someone's in need of a rest," Rouge teased. Shadow just growled.

"Hey guys," Knuckles said suddenly, his eyes widened, "Where are the girls?"

"I think they're still in the maze," Shadow replied, mentally cursing himself for forgetting.

"We're right here, silly," Everyone turned to see Blaze, Amy, and Cream, the latter holding two Chaos Emeralds.

"How'd you get out?" Sonic asked as Amy ran up to hug him.

"Well, after we grabbed the second Chaos Emerald, we all grabbed on to Blaze, and she managed to run us out in time," Amy explained, clutching her dear Sonic. "So then, she ran us a bit farther, and we found you!"

"Now we have three emeralds," Knuckles added. "Two from the maze, and one from Gemini."

"And he said that the other two are with Eggman and the GUN," Tails mentioned. "So, now we just have to grab those, and liberate the rest from Gemini."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Rouge said. "I'm sure I could steal the emeralds, as long as I knew where each was."

"No problem," Tails said. "When we were all fighting Gemini, I managed to get a remote tracking device on him. Therefore, we should be able to find out where he lives. After that, Rouge can steal the Chaos Emeralds!"

"I'm going too," Shadow stated.

"Sorry, but you need to rest," Rouge declared. "Come on, let's head back to Angel Island, and we can go from there."

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**Yay, I finished that part! I never expected it to take that long. Oh well, it's done with now. Next chapter shall be up soon! Yay! Please tell me what you think about how this is all going, alright? Thank you!**


	8. Even More Problems

**Comment? I don't have any for once. Uhhm...yay for Saturday? Anyway, here's Chapter 8. Hooray!**

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The gang made it back to Angel Island, and had currently been there a few hours. Knuckles had left to check up on the Master Emerald, Sonic was having a race with Blaze (with Amy cheering on Sonic), Tails and Cream had gone off to check on his computer, while Rouge was trying to get Shadow to rest.

"Seriously Rouge, it's no big deal," Shadow told her, standing a bit away from the Master Emerald Alter. "I'm feeling fine, and I'll be totally recovered by the time we go after that Chaos Emerald."

"That's what they all say," Rouge replied. "All guys think they can do anything, even when they're too tired to stand. If you trust what they say, they just collapse at the most crucial point in the mission. Trust me, I know." Shadow groaned, but sat down on the grass all the same. Rouge snickered.

"What's so funny?" Shadow asked, looking annoyed. Rouge smirked.

"You never listen to anyone else, do you?" Rouge asked. "If anyone else had asked you to sit down, you'd keep standing. So, why do you listen to me?" Shadow tried to keep a straight face, but the Master Thief beside him could make out a slight blush in his cheeks. She smiled.

"You wouldn't happen to...like me, would you?" Rouge winked at him. The black hedgehog turned his face away as he felt his cheeks warm up. To say the truth, he wasn't sure. True, she was an ally to him. The pair had worked together on quite a few occasions. He was indeed fond of her, but...could he possibly be in love with her? Shadow tried to shake the thought away, turning his attention toward the sound of footsteps.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Sonic said as he ran up to them, Blaze and Amy behind him.

"Nothing," Shadow immediatly replied, causing Rouge to snicker some more. Sonic opened his mouth to say something, when Tails and Cream showed up.

"Is everyone here?" Tails asked, holding a labtop in his hands.

"Knuckles is off with the Master Emerald, but everyone else is present," Blaze answered.

"Good enough," The kitsune replied, "Because I have something important to show you all. I managed to get one of my security cameras to the place where Gemini and Ciel are!"

"So we can see what they're doing?" Sonic asked. "Awesome! How'd you get a camera there without going yourself?"

"He borrowed Cheese," Cream said. "Cheese has a minature comm-link with him, so we told him where to take the camera. He's at Gemini and Ciel's place right now."

"So what you're saying is, we can see excatly what those two are doing?" Shadow asked. Tails nodded.

"Yeah, and from the looks of it, they're already up to something. Give me a minute to set up the computer, and we can all check it out."

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In a small apartment in Station Square, the little chao was hiding inside a vent, a miniature camera and comm-link attached to his bow.

"Tails to Cheese, Tails to Cheese, do you read me?" Cheese heard through his commlink. He chaoed a reply quietly, because he would be noticed if he spoke too loud. "Excellent, Cheese. Okay, move in a little closer, so we can see what they're doing." The chao complied, moving a bit closer to the end of the vent. Through a hole, he could see two black hedgehogs in the room. The room was the living room, and was quite a bit on the messy side. There were quite a few books that were out of their bookshelves, along with a collection of other magical items and ingrediants. Down below, the two hedgehogs were grabbing some of the supplies.

"Gemini, what exactly are we doing again?" asked Ciel, who was trying to grab something that had accidentally been scooted under the couch.

"My god Ciel, how many times do I have to explainn it to you?" Gemini asked in return, looking for something in a pile of books. "That summoning I did earlier sapped most of my Dark Energy, so I have to do an Energy Revival ritual before it goes out completely. After we do that, then we can go for the rest of those Chaos Emeralds. Of course, now we have to grab five of them instead of two, thanks to a certain someone..."

"Sorry Gemini," Ciel apologized, "I didn't mean to lose the two I was supposed to get." His brother sighed.

"I guess it's alright," Gemini said after awhile, "Getting the others back shouldn't be too hard. My only concern is that hedgehog."

"You mean Shadow?" Ciel asked, finally grabbing a vial of something that he had fished out from under the couch. Gemini nodded, pushing his sunglasses back into their normal position on his face.

"Yeah, that one," He admitted. "I'm pretty sure he's Lex, but...he seems so...different. You know what I think, Ciel?"

"No, what do you think?" At this point in the conversation, Cheese went in a bit closer, knowing that the others would probably want to hear this.

"I think that when we go after the Chaos Emerald in the GUN base, we hack into their military computer. Then, we can see what happened to him, and what happened to the Ark." Gemini paused, picking up one of the spellbooks from the pile. "Who knows, we may even find out what happened to everyone there, like Maria. I still miss her sometimes. Wouldn't it be nice to find her?"

"It sure would," Ciel replied happily. "Wouldn't she be happy to see that we're back? From what you said, she really misses us."

"She probably does," Gemini flipped through the book in his hands a little, lost in thought. "Okay, I found the ritual. Hand me that vial over there, will you Ciel?"

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Back on Angel Island, Shadow just stared blankly at the screen. So it was true, the other two hedgehogs did know Maria. It was hard to deny it any longer, those two had been on the Ark. But, seeing as they didn't know Maria was dead, or anything else that had happened on during the Ark's invasion, where had they been?

"Girls," Shadow said, "You said you guys found Ciel, right? Did he say anything about what happened to him or Gemini?"

"A little," Cream replied. "Mr. Ciel said he used to live on the Ark with you guys, but he ended up having to leave, because he got really sick."

"I think I remember hearing about a plauge on the Ark," Shadow murmmured. "But from what I heard, almost everyone who got it died. Did he say anything about Gemini?"

"Ciel said he met up with Gemini later," Rouge confirmed, "but he didn't say how or why. I also heard him mention that he owes his life to Gemini, for some reason." Shadow mused over this for a minute, looking at the screen again. It seemed Gemini had started his ritual already, standing in the middle of the floor with a runic circle drwn in chalk around him. Ciel was nearby, watching while toying with one the purple Chaos Emerald. From what could be seen from the screen, the runic circle was glowing, and Gemini was chanting something.

"I wonder how that magic works," Tails muttered. The young fox grabbed his comm-link again. "Cheese, do you read me? I need you to-"

"GUUUUYYYYYSS!" Everyone was startled by the sudden outburst, with some of the younger characters letting out a shriek in suprise. The source of the outburst was Knuckles, who was running toward them with something in his arms.

"What the hell is it Knuckles?" Shadow snapped.

"Well, you see, I was checking on the Master Emerald, and it began to glow, and then..." Knuckles stopped to show what was in his arms. It was a light orange echidna, wearing a green and white dress. Her eyes were closed, for she was unconcious.

"Tikal?" Sonic asked. "I thought her form here was a hologram."

"Not anymore," Knuckles replied. "I think that Chaos transported her into our time for some reason. Remember how the message she sent us ended early? I think that was because Chaos was going to send her here, and he didn't want us to know yet."

"The problems keep adding up," Rouge muttered. She turned back towards the screen, her eyes widening. "Uhmm, guys? I think we have a situation here."

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Moments before, back at the appartment, Gemini had been starting his ritual. Ciel just stood back by the wall, toying with a Chaos Emerald. However childish the winged hedgehog was, he always remembered to never interrupt his brother with his magic. As he had heard before, even the smallest mistake could throw the whole spell off. Ciel quietly sigehd as he remembered that phrase, for it was indeed true. As a matter of fact, that was why Ciel had sharp teeth and wings in the first place, due to a small accident with a spell.

Suddenly, up in the vent, Cheese heard a loud shriek in the middle of Tail's transmission. It was so sudden, it caused the chao to yell loudly in fright. Ciel, who was standing near the vent, clasped his hands to his ears in reflex to block out the noise. As a result, he accidentally threw the Chaos Emerald, which sailed through the room...and landed right in the middle of Gemini's rune circle, knocking the magician off guard.

"The hell?" was all he could say, as the now ruined spell began it's new effect. The rune circle glowed brightly, enveloping the room in a dark purple light. Everyone watching, even those watching from Angel Island, watched in suprise.

"What the heck's going on?" Shadow asked, back on Angel Island.

"I don't know," Knuckles exclaimed.

"You startling us set off a chain reaction," Tails explained.

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Knuckles yelled.

"Shush Knuckles, something's happening," Blaze ordered. Back in the room, the runic circle stopped glowing. In the center was Gemini, his fur crackling in black energy. His eyes flared open, revealing a pyschotic look in his eyes.

"Gemini?" Ciel asked cautiously, having never seen his brother this way before.

"Shadow..." Gemini muttered. "I am going to kill him."

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**Uh oh, that's not good. I don't have anything to say still, except to be here next chapter to find out what happens next!**


	9. Definetly Threat

**Okay, head's up folks. I might not be able to update until Friday, for I have registration on Wednesday, and the power's out Thursday. Just pointing that out, so no one freaks out if Chapter 10 is late. Actually, the original _Triple Shadows_ was only nine chapters long, so this version is indeed longer. Yay!**

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"Shadow...I am going to kill him." The apartment was dark, the black hedgehog in the center scanning the room. Ciel backed up against a wall, trying not to be noticed. He was confused, he had no idea what had happened to his brother, or what exactly had spooked him in the first place.

"Ciel," Ciel looked over at Gemini, who was staring right at him. He had discarded his sunglasses, and the eyes that were usually sky blue were now pitch black.

"Yes Gemini?" his brother asked, slinking away from that angry stare.

"Tell me Ciel...what did you do?" There was an eerie tone in the magician's voice, a mix of calm and rage. The winged hedgehog slunk a bit lower down the wall in fright.

"I...I accidentally threw the Chaos Emerald..." He admitted. "Something suprised me. I didn't mean to Gemini. It just sort of..." Ciel was cut off mid-sentance as his brother slapped him, the calm snapping.

"Excuses," Gemini muttered. "Useless fool, I told you not to interrupt my magic!" Ciel closed his eyes, almost as if he could block out the noise. His ears suddenly picked up a quiet noise from the vent. opening his eyes to look up, he saw a small chao in the vent.

"Cheese?" Ciel flew up to grab the chao, bringing him down. Gemini glared at the chao, noticing the camera on the little red bow.

"So, that's their game, is it?" Gemini asked. "Well then, I can use this." He ripped the bow off Cheese's neck, aiming the camera at himself. Cheese gave a little screech.

"Gemini, you're hurting it!" Ciel protested, holding the chao against his chest.

"Even better," Gemini sneered at his brother before turning to the camera again. "Shadow, I know you are watching, so listen up..."

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Back on Angel Island, everyone was startled by this new development.

"He's hurting Cheese!" Cream cried, breaking out into a sob as Blaze and Amy tried to calm her down.

"How the heck did that happen?" Sonic asked.

"I think it was the Chaos Emerald," Shadow explained. "Remember the fight with the Bone Titan, when my Chaos Blast made it go beserk? I think that Chaos Magic has an effect on Dark energy, and the Chaos Emerald caused Gemini to go beserk."

"It is," Everyone turned to see Tikal, who had awakened. "The Chaos Emeralds react to emotions. Dark Energy doesn't have that alone, but combined with the user's anger and hatred, the Chaos Emerald sends the user's power and emotions into a frenzy."

"Well, isn't that just great?" Shadow asked. "That means it's even more important to collect those Chaos Emeralds." Just then, Gemini showed up on the camera.

"Shadow, I know you are watching, so listen up," Shadow turned his attention towards the crazed hedgehog on the screen. "You keep saying that you've forgotten about your past with us on the Ark, correct? Well then, meet us at the GUN military base. Then, we can find out what really happened before I destroy you! Bring the Chaos Emeralds also, but no one can come with you, understood? I will see you there." The screen turned towards Ciel, who was clutching Cheese to his chest. "Oh, and don't count on Ciel helping you out on this one, because he will help only me. As for your dear chao...I suppose he can die with you Shadow. Now, goodbye." The screen fizzed out as the camera on the other end was destroyed, leaving only static on the labtop screen.

"Damn," Shadow cursed. "I guess I'll just have to do this alone."

"No way Shadow," Rouge said. "We can still come, as long as we don't come in with you. If things get too tough, we'll be there to back you up. Isn't that right everyone?"

"Alright!" Sonic cheered, "Count me in!"

"That hedgehog's gonna' pay!" Knuckles agreed.

"I can make sure that the GUN's security system doesn't give you any problems," Tails added.

"I'll go," Cream said. "I have to save Cheese."

"And we'll back you up Cream," Amy cheered, with Blaze nodding in reply.

"I shall go too," Tikal added. "I may be able to help calm down Gemini. That is probably why Chaos sent me here, to assist you."

"Well, I suppose I won't stop you guys," Shadow said. "But the GUN military base is extremely dangerous. There's no doubt that the GUN is going to attack everything and anything in sight when they find us all out."

"That never stopped us before," Rouge pointed out. "Don't worry Shadow, we'll be alright." Shadow shrugged at the comment, not being one to say thanks.

"I guess it's decided then," The black hedgehog admitted. "Come on then, let's get going." Shadow turned to leave, the others following behind him. Tails, who had to go get the Tornado ready, left so fast that he forgot his labtop. Once everyone had left, a familiar insignia popped up onto the screen, depicting the face of a certain mad scientist.

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"So, that's what they're up to!" Eggman exclaimed at his base, turning off his computer. "It's a good thing I sent out my Egg-Spy virus into Tail's computer while those stupid friends of Sonic's were out. I heard the whole thing! Well then, I better get over to the GUN base if I want to get my hands on the other Chaos Emeralds! Bocoe, Decoe, prepare the Egg Raider! This time, I have the perfect plan." The robots complied immeditaly as their master let out a psychotic laugh.

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**Well, the players are all decided. Next chapter, we have Shadow vs Gemini vs GUN forces! Meanwhile, The rest of the gang finds out the rest of Ciel's past, and how is Eggman going to fit into the scheme of things? Oh, you'll see...**


	10. Ciel's Past

**Yay, double digit chapters! Oh joy! Yeah, I finally got the new chapter up. I was busy before that...oh well, on to the story! Eheh, I'd also like to say that this is a new record in chapter length for me...I was in a writing mood.**

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By the time Shadow and the gang got to the GUN military base, it was obvious that Gemini had already showed up. The bodies of GUN soldiers were scattered across the ground, along with fired bullets and patches of Dark Energy. Shadow had transported them to the base using Chaos Control, so they were already inside.

"It's a total ruin," Sonic muttered. "It looks almost as bad as when you invaded it Shadow. There just aren't any aliens."

"Don't remind me," The black hedgehog ordered. "Okay, here's the plan. I'm going to meet Gemini in the computer room. Rouge, Tikal, Knuckles, you guys follow behind me, but stay out of sight. As for the rest of you..."

"Got it covered!" Sonic declared. "We're going to see if we can help the remaining GUN soldiers, and see if we can find Cheese." The hero turned to his group. "Alright guys, let's get going!" Sonic ran off donw a corridor, the characters that Shadow had not named off following behind him.

"I guess we should head towards the computer room," Rouge said. "That's where Gemini is, I bet. Come on guys." Rouge flew up to the ceiling, loosing a panal in the wall to reveal an entrance. With the two echidnas following behind her, the bat took her secret passage to the computer room. Taking a minute to watch her go, Shadow ran off towards what he hoped was the computer room, if memory served him right.

"Shadow, what a suprise to see you here!" The said hedgehog turned his head around to see Dr. Eggman in his Egg Walker, followed by Bocoe and Decoe.

"Eggman," Shadow stated, "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The doctor asked. "From what I've been able to figure out, Gemini and Ciel are indeed projects created by my grandfather. Thing is, even the files I got from GUN about his work didn't include either of them. What I want to know is why. I figured that following you here might prove some answers. Besides, I have the last Chaos Emerald with me, unless Gemini hasn't already got the one here."

"How did you know what emeralds we were missing?" Shadow asked. "You were spying on us, weren't you?" The egg laughed.

"Of course!" He answered. "Now, I won't try to harm you this time, so get a move on. I don't think Project Gemini should be kept waiting." Before he had finished his sentance, though, Shadow was already gone.

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"My god, this place is such a wreck!" Amy cried, as her and the others followed Sonic through the base. Sonic was keeping a pace slow enough for them to keep up with, but only because it was best for them to stick together.

"I'm scared," Cream mumbled. "Cheese is somewhere in here, all alone and afraid. I hope we get to him in time."

"Don't worry Cream, no harm shall befall Cheese," Blaze said to comfort Cream. Suddenly, a figure came out of the shadows. Cream and Amy let out a shriek.

"Relax, it's only the Commander," Sonic told them. The figure nodded, a tall human with graying hair. His red and blue eyes both scanned the furries in front of him.

"So, it seems you have arrived just in time," The Commander said. "Two mysterious figures infiltrated the base, and one of them has been decimating our forces. The troops say that he seems to deflect their bullets with a forcefield, and the other one is unnaffected by them whatsoever! Unfourtunatly, no one has been able to identify them."

"They're hedgehogs," Tails explained. "Two hedgehogs created by Professor Gerald, like Shadow." The Commander stared at them in disbelief.

"That means, either he made more of them after Shadow, or...no, it couldn't be. They were gone."

"Do you know them sir?" Amy asked. The human before them shook his head.

"I did know of two other projects besides Shadow and the Biolizard," he addmitted. "But one was banished, and the other was-"

"-Dead." Everyone turned around to see Ciel standing behind them, with Cheese on his shoulder. Cream gasped, while the Commander's face turned white.

"Project Ciel," He muttered. "Impossible...you're supposed to be dead!" Everyone looked suprised by this accusation, looking to see the winged hedgehog's response.

"I know," Ciel admitted. "I was dead for awhile, but not anymore."

"But if you were dead, then how can you be here?" Amy asked, the question everyone was wondering. Ciel sighed.

"It was Gemini," he explained. "He revived me from the dead less than a year ago, but...he sorta' messed up a little."

"Gemini is here too?" The Commander asked. "But he was banished off of the Ark! Thrown out into space! How can he be alive?"

"I dunno, ask him." Ciel's gold eyes looked up and down the commander, taking in all the features. "Commander of the GUN military...I never would have thought it of you James. You always were the one that mocked the soldiars." The hedgehog laughed.

"Wait a minute, hold up!" Sonic yelled. "Okay, you said that your brother revived you from the dead, but he messed up. How the heck is that possible?"

"Well, I think I can explain," Ciel admitted. "Uhmm, from what I remember Gemini telling me, it was during the Black Arm invasion..."

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_Flashback **(A/N:** **The flashback is not from Ciel's POV, it's from third person to show what happened)**_

Outside the appartment window, the sky was blood red. Strange creatures ravaged skies and streets alike, with the natives running in panic. The same scene showed up in many cities, but this particular one was in Central City. In an old apartment, untouched by the invasion, a black hedgehog pulled in one of the aliens: A Black Volt.

"How fortunate of me," The hedgehog mused, "The Black Arms invade around the time I land on Mobious." This was Gemini, putting down the weakened alien for a minute to take a look at his spell book. "Let me see...similiar blood, check. Body of a similiar species, check. Rune circle, check. Knife, check. Silent space..." The magician walked over to close an open window, shutting out the screams of the outside. "...check. Alright then, let's begin the ritual."

"Reviving the Dead, Step one," the spell book read. "Take a body that is of whatever species you wish to revive. A dead body is preferable, for a live body results in two sou;s in one body. Step two, cover the body in the blood. The fresher the blood, the better. Step three, stand on the edge of the rune circle. Give a personal blood sacrifice while reciting these words..." Gemini nodded at the instructions, it was nothing too hard. A hedgehog body was simple enough, he had found one that had been killed by the Black Arms. He lay the body in the middle of the magic circle, which he had drawn in white chalk. Taking his dagger, he cut the wing of his Black Volt, which he had caught after it had crash-landed on the apartment roof. The poor alien was tied up, so it would not disturb the ritual.

"Scraaah," It screeched, as Gemini caught the black blood that oozed from it's room. In truth, the magician felt a little sorry for the creature, but it was for the better. It was for his brother, Ciel, who had died aboared the Ark over fifty years ago. Gemini was planning to put his magic to the test, and see if he could revive his brother. The Black Volt continued to screech.

"Shut up," Gemini ordered, taking the blood over to the body in the rune circle. He glanced at the body as he poured the black liguid on it. It was a boy hedgehog, and by the looks of it was barely older than sixteen. The fur that was probably once a nice shade of orange was now caked in dirt and dried blood, not counting the nasty fluid from the alien. For a brief second, Gemini felt sorry for the boy. The feeling didn't last, however. As his tutor had always said, "Everyone dies eventually. Even if they die early, they would have most likely had a worse death later in life if they had lived." His tutor was always a bit pessimistic, but he did have a point.

"You're supposed to forget about the Ark," Gemini muttered to himself, as he finished with the blood. Stepping back to the edge of the circle, he took one short look at the book before beginning the magic part of the ritual. Reassuring himself, he grammed the knife, bringing it across his hand as he began his chant. It wouldn't be long now...

"Sraaaah!" The Black Volt cried again, Gemini continued his ritual, flattening his ears in an attempt to block out the noise. The creature kept crying, making it hard for Gemini to concentrate. The black covered body in the rune circle began to glow, a small pillar of darkness taking it's place soon after. Suddenly, without warning, the Black Volt came free from it's bind. With a mighty, "Scraaah!" It began to flap it's wings, mesmerized by the black pillar. Before Gemini could stop it, it flew into the circle, becoming enveloped in the pillar. The whole circle began to glow an odd red color, alerting the magician that the ritual was messed up. Gemini unconciously backed away a few steps in fear, accidentally leaving the circle. The glow sharply brightened, blinding the hedgehog as all went black.

A few minutes later, the glow faded away, revealing the body in the rune circle. Now, inside it was a black hedgehog with yellow stripes, looking barely over sixteen. He looked almost normal to a strangers eye, except for one detail: A set of large wings attached to the back in place of quills. Opening his eyes, the hedgehog looked around.

"Where am I?" he wondered, the apartment being quite unfamiliar. His eyes rested on another black hedgehog a few feet away. "Gemini?" The object of his attention was passed out, slowly breathing. It was then the winged hedgehog himself realized he was not breathing himself. Was he a ghost? No, he couldn't be. He wouldn't be able to feel the floor under him if he was a ghost. Then why wasn't he breathing? Well, at least he wasn't choking. Maybe he didn't need to?

"I'm confused," he said to himself, noticing his voice sounded different. Nearby, Gemini's eyes flickered open.

"Ciel?" Gemini asked, raising his head. His brother was indeed in front of him, staring at him with the same curious eyes he had as a child. Ciel smiled.

"Hi Gemini," he said. "What happened?" The magician hedgehog almost smiled, but then he noticed the wings, and then remembered his mistake. He had revived his brother, but what had he done to him?"

_End Flashback_

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"And that's what happened," Ciel finished after telling the others the story in his view (which was much shorter). Everyone stared at him in disbelief, even Sonic. Everyone was silent for a few minutes.

"So..." Blaze said, breaking the silence, "You mean to tell us that Gemini's magic can bring back the dead?" The winged hedgehog nodded.

"Of course, he didn't do it perfectly," Ciel added. "Not only do I have wings and fangs, and I'm a little older, well...I'm not all the way alive, like you guys."

"What do you mean by that?" Sonic asked. Ciel looked nervously at his shoes.

"Well, my body can't sustain a lifeforce for long like you guys can. So I sorta' have to...take it from other people. And well, I can't always control when I do it..." Everyone slunk away a few steps, except for Cream. She still stood there, looking up at the once-dead project.

"It's not like you mean to," The rabbit pointed out. "And if Gemini revived you, it means that he cares about you and missed you. You're lucky to have at least a bit of family that cares about you." Ciel nodded, and was about to say something, when gunshots were heard.

"Damnit, I almost forgot!" The Commander yelled. "I still have to assist my troops against Gemini, even if I know him. Please understand." Ciel nodded, while Sonic grinned.

"Hey Commander, need a lift?" Sonic asked. "I'm sure I can get you there faster than walking." The human nodded, as Sonic pulled him away by the hand.

"Well, they aren't leaving us behind," Amy said, running after Sonic. Shrugging, Tails and Blaze followed her. Cream was about to, when she felt something on her shoulder. It was a chao.

"Cheese!" she cried, hugging the chao. "Oh, I'm so glad you're back." She turned to Ciel. "Thank you Mr. Ciel."

"Don't mention it," He replied. "He missed you. Now come on, we should go help the others!" Ciel flapped his wings and flew off, while Cream stood there for a second longer.

"He isn't bad at all," Cream said, "and I bet that once we defeat Mr. Gemini, he won't either. Come on Cheese, let's go."

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**Wow, that chapter was long. Sorry if I went a little overboard on the flashback (I sometimes can't tell when it's too much). I did come up with the magic procedure myself, though, as well as Ciel's status. If you want more info on that, check Ciel's bio on my profile. Well, I'll see you all next chapter.**


	11. Gerald Confesses

**OMG, I'm late again! I can explain...you know that alert that the site would be down Sunday, from 9pm-4am? Well, I thought it was from 9 am, so I thought the site would be down all day. Stupid me for not reading the directions. Anyway, sorry this is late, and the new chapter for _Crimson Stripes _should be up tomorrow. I have to start school tomorrow! Yay High School! (Yes, I am one of the weird kids who is actually excited).**

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The computer room wasn't too hard for Shadow to find. It was a simple matter of folowing the trail of GUN bodies that Gemini had left in his wake. Shadow slowed down a little as he neared the computer room entrance. There were blast marks and blood all over the ground.

"Sonic was right," Shadow muttered to himself. "The base did look like this when I was here. The only difference was the Black Arms were here too. I wonder if Black Doom knew about Ciel and Gemini." The black hedgehog mused on this for a brief second before he opened the door.

"It's about time you showed up Shadow," Gemini said as he entered. "I almost thought that you wouldn't make it. So then, are you ready to find out about what really happened, before I kill you?"

"I think you are mistaken," Shadow replied. "In case you didn't know, Gerald created me as an immortal. I can't die."

"That's what you think," His brother replied. "No matter, we shall see the truth soon enough. As much as I want to destroy you, I do keep my word." Turning around, Gemini began tapping a few keys on the Mother Computer's keyboard. Upon reaching the password screen, he simply typed in M-A-R-I-A. The code was accepted, as Gerald's old files on Project: Shadow came onto the screen.

"I've seen all this before," Shadow noted. "So you can turn this off, unless you have something else to show me."

"Well then, I see you aren't that good at paying attention." Gemini scrolled down the screen, until he reached a second password screen. Shadow kept watching, still not impressed by anything. Then he noticed that Gemini wasn't typing the MARIA password into the screen. Instead, he typed in the keys B-A-R-O-N. Remarkably, the password was accepted, bringing up a new screen.

"You see, there was a second password that no one ever bothered to use," Gemini explained. "Baron was the name of the hedgehog Gerald based us off of, and he was also my mentor. Barely anyone on the Ark knew about him, except for Gerald, a few scientists, Maria, and us, of course. That's why Gerald used his name as the keyword for our file." On the screen, Gerald's face appeared. Shadow figured that this was one of the proffessor's old recordings.

"To anyone who may be listening," The recording said, the voice crackling a little with static. "I am afraid I made a terrible mistake. You see, Project Shadow was not the only project of his kind. In fact, he is actually the last and youngest of my creations. You see, when I first tried to create the Ultimate Lifeform, I tampered with the idea of a creature that was a fusion of natural creation and cybernetics. This lead to Project Biolizard, which was deemed unsuccessful. Both Shadow and Biolizard have been mentioned in my reports, but not the other two. Their names are Projects Ciel and Gemini."

"So, I suppose you two are indeed projects," Shadow admitted. Out of the corner of his eye, the red-streaked hedgehog could make out Rouge, Knuckles, and Tikal watching through a hole in the wall. Even though he couldn't see him, Shadow also knew that Eggman was watching the recording behind them. On-screen, Gerald continued.

"You see, I made Shadow, Ciel, and Gemini using the blood of Black Doom. I promised him that when the time came, he could pick any one of the three to use to fulfill his mission. That way, I'd have the other two projects to stop whichever Black Doom picked. So, Ciel and Gemini were created first, and Shadow a bit later. He was originally called Lex, but I noticed Maria often calling him Shadow.

"Now, the part where it all went wrong comes in. You see, there was a fourth hedgehog onboard the Ark. His name was Baron, whom I based the projects off of. The GUN had me use him because of his immense power. You see, I discovered that, besides Chaos Magic like the echidnas possesed, there is also Light and Dark magic. Baron was an adept at Dark Magic, but to my suprise, it had not fully consumed him. He was not evil, and could control his magic quite well. Despite this, I did not want my creations to come into contact with him. Unfortunatly, Maria introduced them to him. Gemini, he was awed by Dark Magic, and Baron began teaching him in secret. No one bothered to tell me, even though Maria, Shaodw, and Ciel all knew of this."

"At least you covered for me," Gemini noted. "Actually Shadow, you were always the nicer one of the three of us, believe it or not."

"Me? Nice? I don't suppose I'm that nice now," Shadow answered. Gemini's black eyes flared.

"Indeed, you have changed somehow," He agreed, "And that is why I must destroy you."

"A while afterward," Gerald continued in the recording, "a plauge came upon the Ark. Most of the victems either died, or were damaged for life. This struck me hard, as my beloved Maria was diagnosed with this, along with Ciel. Somehow, Ciel's immune system was never fully completed as a child, and he soon died at the age of nine. As for Maria, she recovered, but her immune system was nearly destroyed. I realized that unless I was successful with my creations, my grandaugher would never go to Earth. I remember when her and the boys would look at Earth from the window, they were all so excited to go there."

"Maria..." Shadow muttered. one of his memories cam into his mind, one of him and Maria gazing upon the planet below.

_"Isn't it beautiful Shadow?"_ she had asked. _"Grandfather says you are going to go there someday. Maybe I can too, and we can be together."_ The sound of the professor's voice never faltered all the while, continuing his confession.

"Finally, around the time that the Black Comet was to arrive near Earth, Gemini nearly destroyed the Ark. If it wasn't for Shadow knocking him unconcious, then the Ark would be a pile of rubble in space. We were never able to figure out what happened to Gemini, but there was no time to fugure it out. I knew that if Black Doom got a hold of him, then Shadow would not be able to stop the two of them. So, in order to prevent that, I sealed Gemini in a capsule, and sent him away. This left Shadow to be the Ultimate Lifeform, but that was not the end of my problems. You see, when Project Shadow was created with a major defect. When he was created...he was born without a soul."

"What?" Shadow cried in outrage. The sudden words struck him like piercing daggers in his mind, cutting away at him. Wasn't a soul the part of a person that gave them life? The black hedgehog remembered hearing that only monsters didn't have souls. Was he...a monster? Shadow put a hand to his forehead as his head began to pound.

"Shadow, if you are there, listen to me," Shadow's gaze met the recorded one of the professor as the pounding in his head began to feel more like explosions. "I know this is probably a shock to you, but I believe this has given you the advantage. You see, I, along with Black Doom and Baron, created a copysoul for you. It has the ability to adapt with you, depending on your situation. Also, since Black Doom helped create it, it renders you immune to nearly all Black Arm control. Shadow, if you haven't already, you must stop Black Doom and Gemini at all costs. The fate of our planet depends on it! I can only hope that you understand this, alright? Well, I must be off now. I am sorry I never told you earlier."

"Don't worry Grandfather," The screen turned to show Maria standing in the doorway. "Shadow and I will both go to Earth oneday, and we'll stop Black Doom and Gemini. You can count on us!"

"That's my girl," Gerald agreed. "Now, go play with Shadow, and don't let anyone know of this, okay?"

"Okay Grandfather. Goodbye Shadow!" Finally, the screen turned black again. Everyone in the room was quiet, contemplating what was just said.

"Maria," Shadow muttered again, the pounding in his head subsiding a little. "I promised you that I would help the people of this planet. If that includes defeating Gemini, then I suppose that's what I must do." Beside him, Gemini laughed.

"Stupid Gerald," He chuckled. "He always acted like he had so much faith in us, but he would carelessly toss us aside if we weren't up to expectation. So Shadow, you think you can beat me?"

"I think I can," Shadow answered. "Let's see if I'm right."

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**There! Okay, now for an explanation of the Copysoul. Shadow's Copysoul never belonged to anyone else, it was created by Gerald, Black Doom, and Baron the Hedgehog. The Copysoul, as the name implies, copies bits of a person's soul into itself. Therefore, whoever Shadow comes into contact with, if he's around them for a while, he has a bit of their soul in his. The soul, and therefore his mindset and personality, are affected depending on who he has contact with. It's easier to influence the soul, if less souls have been copied. Shadow currently has quite a few souls copied, from Black Doom to (gasp!) Sonic. Also, due to the fact Black Doom assisted in it's building, Shadow is immune to most (but not all) Black Arm control, while Baron's assistance provides him with partial defense to most magics. There, I explained it, I made it, I own it. Now, I'll see you all later!**


	12. Eggman Unleashes his Plan

**Hey guys, I'm back! I had relatives over, so that's why I didn't update sooner. Good news, though. I got a new computer! It is so much better than my old one, and it also has a spell checker on it! Hooray, no more dumb spelling errors (at least, not as much). So then, on to Chapter 12!**

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**"**You really think you can beat me, don't you?" Gemini asked, his black eyes fixed upon Shadow. "You must be even more foolish than I thought you were. I suppose that being called the Ultimate Lifeform must have gotten to your head!"

"We'll see about that," Shadow declared. The black hedgehog clenched his fists, preparing for the battle to begin. As he predicted, Gemini charged at him, dark energy surrounding his fists. Shadow stepped aside, but Gemini pivoted as soon as he touched the floor again, and sent a kick to Shadow's face.

"Was that supposed to be a kick?" Shadow taunted. "I've seen flies hit harder than that. Heck, even Knuckles can't kick that softly."

"Shut up!" Gemini tried another punch in fury, which was easily caught by Shadow. As the two black hedgehogs fought with each other, Rouge watched from her secret hiding spot, looking rather amused.

"Is fighting all those boys ever think about?" The white bat asked. Knuckles and Tikal watched from behind her.

"I would hope not," Tikal replied. "Fighting never solves anything. We have to stop them, or they'll end up killing each other."

"Not to worry," Knuckles explained. "They're immortal, they can't kill each other. We just let them tire out a bit, and then we go in and subdue Gemini."

"It's not going to be that easy Knuckles," Tikal cried. "With fights, it never turns out the way you suspect they will. Please, we must stop them!"

"She may have a point there," Rouge agreed, flattening her ears against her head. "I have a bad feeling about this, and the source is right over there." She pointed to the entryway into the room below.

"Hey, that's Eggman!" Knuckles exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"

"Whatever he's doing, you know that it's going to screw everything up," Rouge refocused on the fight, the two combatants fighting so fast, it was almost impossible to tell what was going on. Every once in a while, a flash of black or green would shoot out, indicating that Chaos and Dark Magic were in play.

"The others are coming," Tikal muttered quietly, "and they bring with them the final Chaos Emerald. That, combined with Doctor Robotnik's, Gemini's, and Shadow's emeralds, makes a total of seven. I predict that this will get much worse than any of us have imagined." The two treasure hunters exchanged worried glances at each other.

"I didn't know that your cousin was a prophet," Rouge said.

"All of us guardians can prophesize at times," Knuckles explained. "She just has more experience with doing it. Tell you the truth, I think she's right."

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"Hey, there they are!" Sonic called out, racing ahead of the others. He had already dropped off the GUN commander, and one of the nearby soldiers had given him a Chaos Emerald that had been salvaged from Gemini's rampage. Looking over his shoulder, Sonic see that the others were following close behind. Up ahead, the Blue Blur could see the computer room, as well as Eggman and the two fighting brothers.

"Eggman," Sonic said as he came to a halt by his enemy. "I'm not surprised that you showed up. How'd you know we'd be here?"

"I had one of my Egg-Spies on the foxboy's computer," The mad doctor explained. "Are the others coming in behind you?"

"Of course they are," The blue hero replied, looking at his Chaos Emerald. It's bright gleam caught the doctor's eye.

"So, you managed to find the last emerald," He noted, looking down at it. "Trade emeralds with me? I have the red one." Eggman pulled out a blood-red Chaos Emerald, holding it out towards Sonic.

"Don't see why it really matters, but I guess." Sonic said absentmindedly, his eyes on the fight. He then took a hold of the red one, while Eggman took the white one. As soon as he did, he quickly swiped back the red one, seeing as Sonic's guard was temporarily down.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" Eggman cackled, holding the two emeralds in his hand as the characters behind Sonic finally caught up to him.

"Sonic, what did you do?" Blaze asked, glaring at the hedgehog.

"He sort of' took my emerald from me," Sonic replied, looking up at the doctor. Eggman began laughing maniacally, catching the attention of Shadow and Gemini.

"What are you up to now, Robotnik?" Gemini spat, Dark Energy crackling in the air around him.

"I have enough emeralds to power my Egg-Walker's special ability," Eggman explained. "Egg Walker, initiate Ultimate Lifeform Capture Program!" Immediately, three large, clawed tentacles thrust out of the Egg Walker, sweeping everyone away as a small antenna came out of the back of Eggman's chair. Then, one of the clawed tentacles grabbed Ciel, as the other two headed for Shadow and Gemini. They clamped on to them before either could escape, and the antenna on the Egg Walker began to glow a light blue. Suddenly, an electric current began coursing through the whole system, creating an electric field around the Egg Walker.

"That's new," Sonic exclaimed. Inside the electric force-field, Eggman continued to laugh maniacally. He had closed the cockpit of the Egg Walker before the electric spurt, so he was unaffected by any of it. As for the three projects, the electricity was also coursing through the tentacles, zapping them mercilessly.

"Genius, isn't it?" The mad doctor asked, looking down at Sonic and his friends. "This Zap Generator I built is putting out over twelve thousand volts of electricity! Very little can stand up to that, and I doubt that most of you can. There's no way you'll be able to save my grandfather's projects now!"

"Twelve thousand volts? That's insane!" Tails cried. "Why are you doing this Doctor Eggman?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am going to make the Ultimate Lifeform and his brothers work for me!" Everyone stared at Eggman, including Rouge and the echidnas.

"I swear, Eggy must have flipped," Knuckles exclaimed. "There's no way he can ever control Shadow and his brothers. Can he?"

"He might just be able to," Rouge answered. "I'm going down there." The white thief opened up the hatch to her hiding spot, gliding down to the floor. Tikal followed behind her, as did Knuckles a bit afterward.

"Oh, Rouge and Knuckles, what a surprise!" Eggman cackled. "I'm sorry, but you can't save them either, no matter how much you want to."

"I don't care what you think," Rouge replied, "because that's what we're going to do!"

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**Twist! Yay! Actually, I don't know how much 12,000 volts is. I think it's a lot, but I don't know. Oh well. Will Rouge and the others be able to save Shadow? Find out next time on _Triple Shadows:Remix_!**


	13. Realizations

**Don't have much to say. I may end up in this play my school is doing, but I'll give you all a heads-up if I'll be late. Homework shouldn't be a problem, though. For now, the stuff's easy, and I never take long with homework.**

**As for this chapter, I have one small note. This is a special chapter, alright? It will be showing what is going on from the POV's of Shadow, Gemini, and Ciel, to show what they are thinking. If it's regular font, that's them thinking. If it's in italics, it's Maria (or in Ciel's case, himself). I hope that's not too confusing. Anyway, enough rambling. Chapter 13 is here!**

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_**Shadow's POV**_

Damn… that was a dirty trick. How could Eggman have done this so easily? He must have been planning for a while. And I let him come, without any concern.

How stupid could I be?

What the professor said about me…how could it be true? I've always been told that a soul is what makes people alive. So, if mine is a fake…does that mean I'm not really alive? Maybe…maybe I'm a fake after all.

It hurts…oh god Maria, this hurts. Who knew that being shocked to death could hurt so badly? At least you had it easy. You were only shot. I'm not taking this nearly as well as you took yours. Some Ultimate Lifeform I am.

_Shadow...please, promise me…_

Maria? Wait a minute, what am I thinking? I can't feel sorry for myself now! I've put my past behind me, haven't I? I have to get out of here, and make sure Eggman doesn't cause any more havoc. I must put an end to this. That's what Maria would want me to do.

_Thank you, Shadow…_

Don't worry Maria. This pain won't stop me. Nothing will. I am the Ultimate Lifeform, after all.

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_**Gemini's POV**_

Ouch…damn electricity. I can't believe that stupid human actually caught me! Eggman, didn't they call him? He's a descendent of Gerald. What a disgrace. After I kill Shadow, I'll go after him.

_Gemini..._

Who is that? It sounds familiar. It can't be…Maria?

_Gemini, why are you doing this? You were created to help people, not kill!_

I am only destroying those who need to! Eggman is an evil scientist, and a disgrace to your family name. The world would be better off without him.

_What about Shadow, then? Why are you trying to kill him?_

He tried to kill me first! Back on Space Colony Ark, remember? He tried to kill me using his damn Chaos Magic! I only used my magic in self defense. It was Shadow's fault that I was kicked off the Ark, not mine. Stupid Gerald just couldn't see that I had control of my power.

_Gemini, stop lying to yourself. You know very well that it was not Shadow's fault._

What are you talking about? Maria, don't stick up for him, just because he's your favorite.

_I am not. Gemini, think about it. Shadow had never used his Chaos Magic until then. Why would he activate it for no reason? And even if he could, why would he try to kill you?_

Because…because he did! All he has ever been is a soulless little fake! Even when he was Lex, he still had no soul. He probably just tried to get rid of me, so that he could be the Ultimate Lifeform.

_You know just as well as I do that he wouldn't. Please Gemini; try to remember what happened that day. Do it for me, and don't try to cover it up._

_**Flashback**_

"This is the end of the line, Lex," screeched a black hedgehog with blue stripes. Again, this was Gemini over fifty years ago, back when Shadow was known as Lex.

"Gemini, what are you doing?" The past-Shadow asked, backing up against a wall. The gaze his brother was giving him was intimidating, and he didn't know what was wrong.

"I am just getting rid of a little fake," The magician hedgehog snarled, charging up a spell in his hands. "You don't deserve to be the Ultimate Lifeform, so I'm taking you out."

"Gemini, this isn't funny," Shadow said, trying to back away further. "This isn't like you. Come on, snap out of it."

"Only when you are dead will I snap out of it," Gemini replied, grinning with pleasure. "Time to say goodbye, brother. Unleash the power of Darkness, Dark Destruct!" As he said this, Shadow's face suddenly turned blank, his eyes pure red. As the glow of Gemini's hands turned into a black explosion, Shadow spoke only two words:

"Chaos Blast"

_**End Flashback**_

I…I'm the one who tried to kill him? So, I've been wrong about this all along. Maria, I can't believe I did that.

_Your brother has gone through much more than you think, Gemini. I believe he has earned the right to be the Ultimate Lifeform fairly. Maybe, someday, you will understand what else is needed to be the Ultimate Lifeform._

I guess I still have a lot to learn. What about you, Maria? I haven't seen you anywhere.

_When Shadow is ready, he will tell you where I have gone. For now, I must go. Fare well, Gemini._

Maria…that's it. I'm going to help Shadow take out Eggman, and then I shall find a way to redeem myself. It's the least I can do to make up for my mistake.

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**_Ciel's POV_**

This is all so strange. All this lightning around me, and I don't feel a thing. I suppose that's because vamparagians like me can't feel pain. "A shell of a living creature, only able to take life energy from other lifeforms." That's what I read in one of Gemini's books.

Gemini…I can hear Gemini and Shadow screaming. It hurts my ears, it's so loud. I wish it would just go away.

_Wishing's never done you any good, now has it?_

No, I suppose it hasn't. If it did, I wouldn't have died in the first place. Too bad wishes don't work. Why won't they stop screaming, though?

_It hurts them, stupid. They can actually feel pain. If you could, you'd be screaming louder than the rest of them, because you are weak._

I am not weak! I'm not listening to you, alright?

_You know it's true. Don't deny yourself, Ciel. Your weakness is why you died in the first place._

La la la, I'm not listening! I'm just going to do something stupid if I listen to you.

_On top of that, you are childish. See your brothers? They are taking their pain, but they actually have faced hardships. You just allowed yourself to take the easy way out. You died, and now you are just a useless little kid._

No I am not! If I was useless, why would Gemini revive me?

_He wasn't trying to revive you as a vamparagus. Fortunately, you can use it to your advantage._

I can? But how?

_Allow yourself to give in to your vamparagus form. If you do, will be powerful enough to destroy this machine that has you trapped. You can get rid of Eggman, as well._

But…my vamparagus form is evil. It's mean, and creepy, and it makes me hurt people. I don't want to.

_Too scared to take a risk, I suppose. Oh well, I guess your brothers will have to suffer._

It's not right! I can't, I won't, I-

_Your brothers have given up a lot more to save others. Are you too selfish to save your family?_

Of course I'm not!

_Then do it._

Well, I guess if it's to save Shadow and Gemini, then I suppose it is okay. Alright then, here I go. I just hope I don't do anything too bad…

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**Okay, there we go! I hope that wasn't too confusing, or bad. Basically, Shadow has come to terms with finding out about his soul, Gemini has come to terms with his mistakes, and Ciel…let's just say, you'll have to wait until next chapter to see what happens. Either way, see you next time!**


	14. Sadistic Little Ciel

**Hi! I have Chapter 14 right here everybody. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I didn't update _Crimson Stripes_ yesterday, because I had writer's block. Spawn of evil…ahem. Anyway, a chapter you do not want to miss!**

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Hopeless. That was exactly how Rouge would have described the situation at that moment. No matter what she thought, she couldn't figure out any way to stop Eggman's machine without being shocked to death before starting. She could hear them now, Shadow and Gemini screaming from the electricity surging through their bodies, and there was nothing she could do.

"Shadow, how come you always get yourself into these messes?" Rouge asked in her head, as if she expected a reply. "One of these days, there won't be any way to get you out of your problems. I just hope that now isn't that day."

"So then, you still have no idea on how to save your friends?" Eggman asked. "I suppose if you'll miss them that badly, that you all can join me too."

"No deal, Eggman!" Sonic yelled. "None of us would ever stoop low enough to willingly follow you. If that means we have to fight Shadow and his brothers, then I guess we'll just have to do it."

"Cocky to the end, aren't you hedgehog?" Eggman stared at all the animals before him, his glasses hiding his expression. "In case you still haven't realized it, I have in my grasp the three Ultimate Lifeforms! Each of them can take you all down without a problem. Once they are under my control, I shall be unstoppable! Meaning, not even you Sonic, will be able to stop me! Mwahahahaha!" Right then and there, the chances that he was right seemed pretty high.

Unbeknownst to Eggman, who continued his maniacal laughter, something had changed with one of the projects. Ciel, the only one of the three hedgehogs that was immune to the electricity, began to tear away violently at the metal claw confining him. Since no one was watching, his hacking went away unnoticed, until he was finished. Soon after releasing himself, he easily walked over to the core of Eggman's machine, pulling off one of the side panels. At that moment, the mad scientist finally stopped laughing long enough to notice this.

"Ciel?" He asked. "What are you doing with that? If you mess with those wires, then my machines will malfunction!" The voice that answered back chilled him to the spine.

"I know," Ciel replied, a sharp chill to his voice. "I hope you do not mind, but I need to get you out of the way for the moment. Goodbye, Doctor." Using his nails, which were now more like sharp claws, Ciel swiftly cut the wires. Suddenly, all the electricity stopped, and the machine began to overheat. As the force field went down, Sonic, Knuckles, Blaze, and Rouge quickly ran to the machine to grab Shadow and Gemini before the Egg Walker exploded. As for Eggman, he was unfortunately still stuck in the cockpit, only escaping mere seconds before the explosion by the emergency cockpit launch button.

The blast was devastating. Since the Egg Walker was strong enough to harness twelve-thousand volts of electric energy, it had quite a lot of energy available to blow up with. It was obvious that GUN would need a new computer soon, seeing as the old one was now ashes. Sonic and the others were, luckily, fast enough to escape the blast zone, and were soon standing at the other side of the base.

"Well, that was a lucky break," Knuckles muttered once they had stopped. "That was some trick you pulled, Ciel."

"Hmm, I suppose it was, wasn't it?" Oddly, there was a drastic change in Ciel's voice. Not only was it much deeper, but it also consisted of an eerie tone. It was defiantly not the normal, little kid-like tone he used, but something more…more like the voice of a charming, yet sadistic killer. To some people, such as Sonic, the voice sounded downright evil. Definitely a cause for concern.

"Mr. Ciel, is something wrong?" Cream asked. "No offense, but you don't sound so good."

"To tell you the truth, I feel better than I have in years." Everyone in the room turned to the winged hedgehog. His face had changed to match this new voice of his, and it fit quite well. His already sharp teeth seemed even more fang-like, his mouth turned up in a smirk. Quills and claws both seemed sharper, and his wings were spread out like a long, vampiric cloak. The biggest change, though, were the eyes. His pupils were mere slits in golden irises, emitting a sense of malice and lust.

"You poor creatures seemed confused," Ciel noted, taking on a look of mock disappointment. "I suppose I must explain. You see, being a vamparagus, I have a need to sustain a life force, as you already know. Sometimes, a large part of me wishes to attain that life force. It's almost like a beast, attempting to devour my mind when I am not looking. And sometimes…the beast gets out, and he is quite hungry." Licking his chops, Ciel took a small step forward, while everyone else stepped back.

"This doesn't look good, you guys," Knuckles whispered. "Tails, you and the girls take Shadow and Gemini away. Sonic and I will try to hold him off."

"You will get yourselves killed if you attempt that," Blaze retorted softly. "You are going to need backup."

"Fine then, you can help if things get bad," Sonic replied. "Now, get going. We'll stall him."

"Stop right there!" Everyone, even Ciel, turned to witness the arrival of the GUN commander, who had a pistol aimed at Ciel's head. "Don't you dare move Ciel, or we will shoot."

"Pardon me, but I'm afraid that won't do a thing," Ciel replied. "As long as I have enough life to sustain me, I cannot die. You on the other hand…James, you look delicious." In one swift movement, the vamparagus had sunk his teeth into the commander, the light blue energy of the human's life force being sucked away. Unable to utter a word, Commander James fell to the floor, never to re-awaken.

"So then," Ciel asked, wiping his mouth with his sleeve as he refocused on the group of animals behind him, "who's going to play with me next?"

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**I don't need to tell you how bad this is, do I? Well then, I suppose you shall have to wait until next chapter to find out what is our favorite furrie's fate. See you again soon!**


	15. Enter the Chaos Emeralds

**I think I'm late for this one. Sorry about that, I was busy typing up other stuff. I don't really have a comment for this, otherwise. Lucky you, you don't have to listen to me ramble! Well then, why are you reading this? Go read the story!

* * *

**

It took him a few minutes, but after a while, Shadow finally regained consciousness. Everything in his body was sore from the electric volts that had been running through him previously. Suddenly, Shadow heard the sound of screaming. His eyes flared open.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking around. His eyes landed on Rouge, the closest person nearby. "Rouge, tell me what's happening."

"Ciel's gone haywire," The white bat replied. "We have no clue what caused it, but we have Sonic and Knuckles trying to hold him off. Blaze and Amy went over to help them a few minutes ago."

"Ciel? Haywire? How could that happen?" Shadow asked.

"It's his Vamparagus form," Rouge and Shadow turned their heads to see Gemini, who had also come to. "When I botched his revival, he was turned into a creature who feeds off of other people's life energy. Most of the time, he can control when he does it. But sometimes, he goes completely berserk. He still hasn't fully gotten control of his instincts yet."

"Well, you sure seem different," Rouge noted. "Did that electricity jolt some sense into your head?"

"I suppose you can say that," Gemini turned his attention on Shadow. "Of course, I don't think that Sonic and that echidna can take him down, even with Blaze and Amy's assistance."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Shadow replied, his attention on the fight. Barely any attacks were able to hit Ciel, for he was zipping around at speeds only Sonic and Shadow could beat. The few attacks that did make contact didn't even leave a scratch. "So then, what do you suppose we do?"

"I have an idea," Tikal said, walking towards them. "I believe that you may be able to defeat him if you use the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," The red-streaked hedgehog agreed, "but Eggman took the last two Chaos Emeralds, didn't he?"

"He did," Tikal answered, "but that doesn't mean he still does. They fell out of the Egg Walker when Ciel deactivated it." The echidna girl pulled out the white and red emeralds, and Rouge pulled out the remaining five.

"So then, we have all the Chaos Emeralds," Shadow muttered, as the emeralds began to float. They slowly began to spin around him, charging their energy.

"So, you think that you are going it alone, aren't you?" Gemini asked. "Gerald intended for two of his creations to fight if the third went ballistic. I am going to assist you one this one." Gemini tossed his jacket aside, and then stepped into the emerald ring surrounding his brother.

"Alright then," Shadow said. "Let's do it."

* * *

Back at the fight, Sonic and Knuckles were not having an easy time. In his Vamparagus form, Ciel was unbelievingly fast. It was hard for Sonic to keep up even, since the winged hedgehog was flying. Knuckles leaped off the ground, managing to land a fist into Ciel's right arm. Unfortunately, the wound closed right up. 

"Damn," the guardian muttered. "Our attacks don't have any effect on him."

"Don't worry Knux, I'll get him," Sonic yelled, sprinting towards his foe. Instead of flying away, Ciel darted back at him, grabbing him as he pinned Sonic to a wall. Before the blue blur could escape, sharp fangs broke through the skin of his neck, light blue life energy flowing away from him. Ciel let go, softly chuckling.

"Your life energy shows me that you have quite a few secrets, Sonic," Ciel muttered to him, looking like a charming villain who had just figured out a fatal weakness in his foe. "It seems that our little hero isn't all he's cracked up to be, now is he?"

"You don't know anything," Sonic snarled.

"Tell that to Amy." Unknown to Ciel, that particular pink hedgehog was right behind him.

"Let go of my Sonic RIGHT NOW!" With a mighty swing of her hammer, Amy smacked the sadistic fiend away from Sonic, who was looking quite pale.

"Nice shot Amy," Sonic exclaimed, "But I don't think we're done yet." A sudden scream alerted them that Ciel had just found Knuckles and Blaze, and was having some fun torturing the two guardians.

"This can't go on forever," Amy moaned. "He's going to kill everyone if this keeps up."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rouge and Tikal looked on as the Chaos Emeralds continued to swirl around the two black hedgehogs. Rouge noticed that Tikal had a look of unease on her face. 

"Something wrong Tikal?" The thief asked. The echidna nodded.

"I have this feeling," Tikal muttered. "I don't know what, but it isn't good. Not at all. The fact that I am unsure what is wrong just makes me feel worse about it."

"If it's about Shadow, he'll be fine," Rouge assured her. "Shadow's been through tougher scrapes than this. Heck, he's even defeated the leader of the Black Arms! He'll be alright." In front of them, the emeralds stood still in the air, as the transformation finished. In the middle of the gems was Super Shadow, his fur giving off a brilliant silvery-gold light. Beside him was Gemini, also in his Super form, with his fur a metallic violet color. Everyone in the room noticed the two hedgehogs, including Ciel.

"So, you two decided to use the Chaos Emeralds against me?" He asked, grinning. "I'm afraid it will take much more than that to defeat me."

"That's what they all say," Shadow replied. "Bring it on."

* * *

**And so, the fight between the three Ultimate Lifeform's begins! What will become of our heroes? You'll just have to see next time!**

**Oh yeah, and I'll mention something. That quote Ciel said to Sonic earlier does not apply to this story! That part has to do with the later stories, _Death by Roses _and _A Whole New View._ I may re-write DbR later, but that probably won't be for a while. And while I'm at it, I will also point out Rouge's quote about Shadow defeating the leader of the Black Arms. That is pertaining to a story I shall be doing later (suggested by someone who currently remains anonymous) that is a prequel to my stories, and a sequel to _Shadow the Hedgehog_. I may wait until the new Sonic game comes out to publish it, though. Alright now, enough rambling! Go on, and enjoy your day.**


	16. Loss of Control

**Just so you all know, I am completely screwing the update deadline. I can't keep a constant, exact schedule now that I am on school-time. Don't worry, for I will still update frequently. Just not as much, okay? At least twice a week. Okay now, Chapter 16. Oi, I got to sixteen chapters! I am so…HAPPY! Yay.

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**

Energy. Energy strong enough to destroy countless worlds once tapped into, that was what was flowing through Shadow's system. Of course, his plans for today did not include the destruction of anything. Well, nothing too important, that is.

"It's good to be back," Super Shadow muttered, his eyes focusing on Ciel. "Too bad that my target this time has to be you."

"Don't lie to yourself," His winged brother replied, smirking. "You just like having power, no matter what you use it on. Then again, most people are like that."

"You shall eat those words," The Super Hedgehog growled, rushing forward. Ciel instantly flew out of the line of fire, but that did not discourage Shadow.

"Ignore him," Gemini ordered, flying next to Shadow in his own Super form. "He is just trying to anger you. If you let it get to you, you know what will happen."

"I don't need to be reminded of what I can and can't do," Shadow retorted. Ciel wasn't too far away from him. All he needed to do was catch up, and then he could put an end to this mess. The golden-silver colored hedgehog grinned as he picked up the pace.

"Something isn't right with this," Gemini thought to himself. "I'm can sense something odd with his energy patterns. I wonder what it-" The magician was cut off from his thoughts as a sudden spasm of pain streaked throughout his body. Against his will, he let out a short scream. Shadow didn't even look back at his brother, still focused on the task at hand. The crimson aura that had begun to surround Shadow meant only one thing: Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

Down below, it was evident also that something was wrong. Sonic had already gotten the rest of the gang outside, but Rouge and Tikal had remained behind. Both of them had troubled looks on their faces, gazing at the three brothers zipping around the room.

"You were right again Tikal," Rouge admitted. "Something is wrong with Shadow and Gemini. What do you suppose it is?"

"I…am not sure," Tikal replied, closing her eyes. "For Gemini, I think that the Chaos Energy is reacting to the Dark Energy inside of him. As for Shadow, I think that he has somehow been upset enough for the Chaos Emerald's energy to send him into a frenzy. How, I do not know." Rouge thought about this for a second before opening her mouth again to speak. A theory had formed in the thief's mind about the predicament.

"Tikal, does the soul have any effect on the people when they use them?" The white bat asked. "Like, affecting their Super forms?"

"Of course it does!" The orange echidna exclaimed. "The soul houses your true heart and emotions! Without it, there would be nothing to life! The Chaos Emeralds react to our emotions."

"Well then, I think I may know what's wrong," Rouge said quietly. "This is just a guess, but I think that Shadow's Copysoul is different in his Super Form. And the few times he has activated his Super form, it's been around creatures that are mainly evil. Biolizard and Black Doom, just to name a few. And the Black Arm's Queen." **(A/N: The Queen will appear in that prequel I mentioned last chapter)** Rouge nodded her head towards the furious hedgehog in the air, his aura now evident to anyone watching.

"If that is true, then we must stop this at all costs!" Tikal declared. "Come Rouge, I need to retrieve the Master Emerald from my cousin."

"Knucklehead brought it with him?" Rouge asked in surprise. Tikal didn't answer, instead running off to locate Knuckles. With one look back at the fighting hedgehogs, the batgirl followed behind.

* * *

Back in the air, Super Shadow continued pursuing Ciel. Shadow flew faster and faster, the bright red aura brightening as he flew. He didn't know where his anger was coming from exactly; he could blame it on a lot of things. Like what he had found out about his past, or the fact that he had been deceived by Eggman. Either way, the Super hedgehog didn't care. He just wanted to quit this game of chase, and proceed to the fight.

"Now now, Shadow," Ciel taunted, "You should not let your temper run off with you like that. You would not want to do something you might regret, would you?"

"The only thing I'll regret is if I can't shut you up!" Shadow yelled in reply, bursting his speed fast enough to catch up with the non-super hedgehog. In his fury, Shadow began to pummel his fists into Ciel, but the wounds closed up as soon as he had applied them. This only caused the frenzied hedgehog's anger to rise, his punches becoming faster as Ciel's regeneration slowed.

"I believe now would be the time for me to finish you off," Shadow was now pure red, Chaos Energy practically oozing off his fingers. "This is the end for you! Chaos-"

"Oh no you don't!" Shadow was cut off by suddenly being attacked by Gemini. The magician was panting, due to the sharp pain that still resided in his body. Shadow growled.

"What was that for?" He demanded to know. "I could have destroyed him!"

"Bastard, that wasn't part of the plan!" Gemini retorted through gritted teeth. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I believe our brother has lost it," Ciel agreed. "Only a mad person would attack so mercilessly. Either that, or a monster." The winged hedgehog grinned at the crimson hedgehog's reaction.

"I am not A MONSTER!" Shadow howled in outrage. "You dare say those words! CHAOS BLAST!" The red aura glowed brightly with energy, expanding into a giant explosion. It seemed that Shadow's fury had won.

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**Cliffhanger! Will Shadow's Chaos Blast send the whole place to Kingdom Come, or will a miracle happen? You'll just have to wait and see!**


	17. Delirium?

**Finally! I am really, really sorry for getting this in so late. I had a super bad case of writer's block for this chapter. That, and the fact that I've been doing some other stuff on my computer, which leads to the really important news… I have a deviantART account! Yes, I finally got one, but I can only do pictures done on my computer for now. I'm having a bit of trouble getting pics up at the moment, but when I do, I can show what they all look like. My name there is Ciel-Hedgehog.**

**Okay, now that that is out of the way, here is Chapter 17!

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Rouge's eyes were shut, waiting for the burst of energy coming her way. She and Tikal had gotten the Master Emerald, and had just gotten inside when Shadow had preformed his Chaos Blast. The white bat waited a few seconds, wondering what was taking so long. After a moment or two, she slowly opened her eyes.

Rouge was quite surprised to see that there was no blast anywhere. She looked around, but there was no trace of the boys anywhere in the sky, where they had been moments before. The only other person in the room was Tikal, who was holding the Master Emerald. The echidna was so still, she almost looked like a painted statue.

"What's going on?" Rouge asked. "Weren't we about to be killed by that Chaos Blast?" Tikal slowly opened her eyes.

"Hmm? The Chaos Blast?" Tikal muttered. "I attempted to stop them with the Master Emerald, but I'm afraid that's not all it did."

"Well then, what did it do?" The thief asked. "Where are Shadow and his brothers?" There was a pause.

"I am not sure," Tikal replied after a bit. Suddenly, she fainted, Rouge barely catching her before she hit the ground.

"Oh, I hope Shadow is alright," Rouge muttered to herself. The bat looked around the room some more, until her eyes rested on three black figures a ways off on the floor. So, she wasn't the only one besides Tikal after all! Looking closer, the one figure with red streaks caught her turquoise eyes.

"Shadow!"

* * *

The black hedgehog groaned, not knowing where he was. Red irises were revealed as Shadow opened his eyes, looking around. Everything in sight was pure gray, neither dark nor light. Neutral. Beside him were Gemini and Ciel, who were also waking up.

"What happened?" Ciel asked, putting a hand to his head. "I think I blacked out." Shadow thought for a bit, for his memory was fuzzy as well. Everything came rushing back to him: Invading the GUN base. Finding out his past. Being captured by Eggman, and then fighting Ciel. Going into his Super form, and then feeling nothing but anger and hatred. The Ultimate Lifeform shuddered at the thoughts.

"You remember too," Gemini pointed out. "You were about to blast us, remember? So how did we end up here? You didn't kill us, did you?"

"I don't think so," Shadow replied. "I don't think we're in our Super forms any more, though, and Ciel's back to normal."

"Back to normal?" Ciel asked confusedly. "Did I do something?"

"We can fill you in later," Gemini said. "First, we have to figure out where we are."

The three hedgehogs all got up, which was something odd in itself. It felt like there was a solid surface underneath them, but when either of them looked down, there was only more of the gray mass. As a matter of fact, there was nothing but gray mass.

"Are we the only ones here?" All three of them thought (hey, twins, triplets, and all of those kinds of people are known to sometimes share thoughts and stuff). Suddenly, the room around them began to change, instantly taking a form they all recognized: Space Colony Ark.

"Impossible," Shadow muttered. "Chaos Blast doesn't do any teleportation, and Chaos Control doesn't have any of that gray stuff in it. So how did we get here?"

"I brought you here," A voice said. A small light appeared, and materializing out of it was…

"Maria!" All of them shouted in surprise. It was indeed Maria, looking exactly as she had over fifty years ago. In fact, to Shadow, she looked exactly like she did before the GUN invasion had taken place.

"I'm glad to see you're all together again," Maria said in her soft voice. "I knew we'd be back here sooner or later." Shadow stood there, dumbstruck. Maria, the one he had worked so hard for, was standing right in front of him. Still, something was off. What it was, the Ultimate Lifeform could not say.

"Maria, where have you been all this time?" Gemini asked, not knowing the whole story. "I haven't seen you anywhere until now. And how did we end up back on the Ark?"

"Exactly what I've been wondering," Shadow added. "Last time I saw you, you were…well, it wasn't exactly the best of goodbyes."

"No, it wasn't," Maria agreed, shaking her head. "You see, you aren't really on the Ark. I just made it look like this so you wouldn't be alarmed."

"What are you talking about?" Ciel asked. "If we aren't on the Ark, where are we?" Everything was completely silent, which was barely broken when Maria began to speak again.

"Grandfather never thought you'd end up here," She said, "but you are at the halfway point between life and death."

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**Definitely not what I had** **in mind at first, but hey, it works! What exactly does Maria mean? How the heck can Shadow (and his brothers) be there if they are immortal? I will tell you all that and more…but you have to wait until next chapter. X3 See you then.**


	18. Finale: Goodbye Afterlife, Hello Home

**Yes, I didn't get this chapter up as soon as I would have liked. I haven't been able to find time for this until now, but hey. This chapter is Chapter 18, which is twice as many chapters as the original. Also, this is The Final Chapter, so read on to see the end!

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"Grandfather never thought you'd end up here," Maria said, "but you are at the halfway point between life and death."

"Life and death…" Shadow muttered. "But I thought that we were immortal. How could we possibly die, especially from one Chaos Blast?"

"It wasn't the Chaos Blast that killed you," Maria explained, "but the energies it caused when the Master Emerald's energy was used to negate it. The combination of the two had enough force to destroy any life force, immortal or not. But, since you three are not supposed to die, you shall be given the choice to either continue living, or accept your death."

"That's all?" Gemini asked. "We just pick one, scot free. There's a catch, isn't there?" Maria slowly nodded.

"If you choose to die, you shall come with me to the afterlife, but you shall never be able to see the world of the living again, unless someone tries a resurrection, which is a rare attempt. But, if you choose to live, you will go back to being immortal. Thing is, choosing life means that you can never go to the afterlife. If you die one more time, then you'll be stuck at the halfway point forever." Shadow and Gemini were both silent.

"What about me?" Ciel asked. "I mean, I already died once, so how come I get to choose again?"

"You weren't all the way immortal when you died the first time," Maria explained. "Since you were this time, you actually get a choice." Ciel fell quiet.

Shadow's gaze fell upon Maria. This was the chance he had wanted so long. All he had to do was say he would die, and he could be back with Maria again. Forever. There would be no way they could be separated again. Wasn't that what he had wished for ever since he regained his memory of her?

Then again, she had told Shadow that he was needed on Mobius, wasn't she? The Ultimate Lifeform was originally created to bring peace to the planet, and that wouldn't work too well if the Ultimate Lifeform was dead, now would it?

_"And besides,"_ said a voice in Shadow's head, _"who's going to keep an eye on the faker? Who's going to stop Eggman when no one else will? And how can you love Rouge if you're dead?"_

It was a hard decision. A million thoughts seemed to be swimming around his head, each presenting a reason why he should or should not die. The black hedgehog closed his eyes, hoping that maybe that would block out the thoughts. Then, he heard a voice, sounding far away. In fact, it sounded like…Rouge?

_"Shadow, wake up. Please Shadow, can't you hear me? You're the Ultimate Lifeform, you can't be dead. Shadow..."_

She sounded so sad, so desperate. Shadow had never heard Rouge talk like that. If him dying would cause her so much misery…

"I think I decided," Shadow declared. Gemini, Ciel, and Maria all turned to him.

"Well then?" Maria asked. "What is your choice?"

"I want to go back," Shadow answered. "I'm sorry Maria, but I am still needed there. You understand, right?"

"I knew you would do it," Maria replied. "Ciel, Gemini, what about you?"

"I've already died once," Ciel muttered. "I think I'd rather be on Mobius with Shadow." Now, everyone turned to Gemini.

"Heck, I guess I'll go back too. Someone has to keep an eye on Shadow," Gemini admitted, shrugging. Shadow turned his gaze back to Maria.

"I guess that this is the last time we'll see each other," Shadow said. Maria bent down, hugging the red-streaked hedgehog.

"Don't worry Shadow," she replied, "as long as you remember me, I'll be with you. Besides, I don't think this is the last time we'll meet. I'll see you again, promise."

"Promise," Shadow repeated, his eyes closed. He slowly felt everything around him disappear, until all he felt was a cold floor, and a voice calling his name.

"Shadow?" Rouge asked. The black hedgehog in front of her opened his eyes. He saw tear streaks on the bats face, but he smiled.

"That's me," he replied. "Did I worry you?" The only reply he got was a hug from the treasure hunter, which he gladly returned.

"Don't scare me like that again," Rouge ordered. "I was afraid you finally died this time." Shadow softly laughed.

"Me? Die? I wouldn't die without saying goodbye to you first," He replied. "We shouldn't be wasting time here, let's get out of this base."

* * *

Rouge eventually got Shadow and his brothers out of the base, with help from Tikal. Neither of the hedgehogs mentioned what had happened to them, but everyone was happy to see them back. Well, almost everyone.

"No! Now I have even more annoying hedgehogs to deal with!" Eggman yelled once he saw them. "Can't you stay dead?"

"I don't think that's an option," Shadow replied. "You'll just have to find some other way to get rid of us."

It took some getting used to, but everyone eventually accepted Gemini and Ciel. Of course, they all ended up having to apologize for what had taken place at the GUN base (including Shadow, much to his annoyance), but it all worked out. Shadow ended up moving in with his brothers, and, much to his pleasure, got a "career" as Rouge's apprentice thief (what better way to stay close to a thief?)

One night, the event at the base was finally brought up again by Gemini.

"So, Maria is dead after all." The three brothers were in the living room of their apartment.

"How did you figure that out?" Shadow asked. "I don't remember telling you."

"Well, when Ciel and I thought about it, there was no other way for her to show up at the halfway point, now was there?"

"I suppose not," Shadow admitted. "I keep telling myself I'll get over it, but it's hard sometimes."

"Well, at least you have us," Ciel pointed out. "There's no way Gemini and I could ever leave you, whether we like it or not."

"I guess you're right about that," Shadow said. "Maybe someday, I'll tell you guys what happened."

"Don't worry about that," Gemini exclaimed, "because we have all the time in the world for that." Shadow cracked a smile at this, for it was true. Forever would be a long time…but at least he'd have someone to pass it with.

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**Owari! There, a much better ending than the first one. I hope that all of you enjoyed the story! Now, I'm going to stick to _Crimson Stripes _for a while. Please, tell me what you thought of this story, and maybe even what you'd like to see next time.**

**Anyway, Ciel the Hedgehog is out. See you later everyone!**


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